FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College men's basketball team placed
five players in double figures and held off a late surge by the Sea
Gulls to earn a 100-83 Capital Athletic Conference victory on
Senior Day at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School Saturday.
The Blazers (19-6, 12-4 CAC) clinched the CAC regular season
championship in their first year in the conference and recorded a
season sweep over the Sea Gulls (12-13, 7-9 CAC).
Hood trailed by as many as eight in the early going but used a
9-0 run to overtake the Sea Gulls at the 8:26 mark. Junior Arthur
Claybon dished a nifty behind-the-back pass to classmate Jesse
Gutekunst in the low post who layed it in to give the Blazers a
21-20 edge. The lead flip-flopped 12 more times before Hood scored
the final eight points of the half to take a 41-34 advantage at the
break.
The Blazers never surrendered their lead and led by as many as
23 with just under nine minutes to play, but Salisbury wouldn't go
away and closed to within seven on a three-pointer by Ray Williams
with 1:34 to go in regulation. But sophomore Ryan Junghans
converted a conventional three-point play in transition at the
other end to bump the lead back up to 10 and the Blazers hung on
for the victory.
Gutekunst recorded his 17th double-double of the season with
game-highs of 26 points and 15 rebounds. In fact, the 6-8 center
tallied a double-double by halftime with 20 points and 12 boards.
Junghans finished with 24 points and four rebounds while
sophomore Tim Abercrombie came off the bench to net 18 points for
the second straight game.
Senior Sean Robine added 12 points and eight boards while
classmate Darnell Edmonds chipped in 11, including four clutch free
throws down the stretch. Senior Justin Junghans, who earned the
first start of his Blazer career, hit a triple from the right wing
which put the Blazers over the century mark for the first time this
season and the fourth time in Hood's four-year history.
Williams paced the Sea Gulls with 26 points but was 1-of-10 from
long range. Despite attempting 17 more shots than the Blazers and
owning an 18-7 advantage on the offensive glass, the Sea Gulls
connected on just 4-of-31 from beyond the arc.
Hood, the top seed in next week's Capital Athletic Conference
tournament, will take on eighth-seeded Goucher College Tuesday at 8
p.m. in the opening round at Gov. Thomas Johnson High School. The
Blazers swept the Gophers in their two previous meetings this
season.
