FREDERICK, Md.--Junior Santo Provenzano scored 18 of his
game-high 26 points in the second half and surpassed 1,500 points
for his career as Hood downed Salisbury 77-65 Monday night at Gov.
Thomas Johnson High School.
Provenzano hit the milestone with his first basket of the game
(right) at the 15:31 mark of a tightly contested first half and
then came out the locker room after halftime on fire.
Battling through heavy traffic inside, he scored 10 points in a
16-5 run to open the second half that quickly pushed Hood's lead to
47-33. Provenzano added nine rebounds, four assists and two steals
on the evening.
A tip-in by junior Sean Robine and a 3-pointer by freshman Tim
Abercrombie put the Blazers ahead 52-35, but the Sea Gulls made a
charge behind Gary Ward, who came off the bench and scored seven
points to spark a 10-0 Salisbury run.
Hood (9-10) used back-to-back 3-pointers from junior Sean Robine
and Tressler to open a 62-48 lead, and, after Salisbury pulled to
within 10, sophomore center Jesse Gutekunst drilled a shot from
behind the arc to keep the visitors at bay.
The Sea Gulls (10-7) got to within 10 again, 68-58, with 3:39
remaining, but Blazers junior Darnell Edmonds went 4-for-4 from the
free-throw line in the final minute to seal the victory.
Hood looked to create some breathing room in the first half, taking
17-11 lead on a layup by Abercrombie and another six-point
advantage, 20-14, on a 3-pointer by junior Dennis Tressler with
8:22 left.
However, Salisbury went on a 14-5 run to move ahead 28-25 before
the Blazers scored the final six points of the half to take a
slight 31-28 edge at the break.
Gutekunst had 14 points and 11 rebounds for his 10th double-double
of the season, while Abercrombie finished with 13 points behind
3-of-5 shooting from 3-point range.
Kyle Harmon led Salisbury with 13 points and Ray Johnson added 12.
Leading scorer Segun Odumeru, who came into the night averaging
17.4 points per game, had just eight on 3-of-13 shooting.
The Blazers return to action Wednesday when they visit Shenandoah
University at 7 p.m.
