VIRGINIA BEACH, Va.--The Hood College men's basketball battled
till the final buzzer but came up just short, dropping a 68-65
decision to the Hampden-Sydney College Tigers Friday evening in an
NCAA Division III Tournament first round game at the Batten Center
on the campus of Virginia Wesleyan College.
The Blazers, who earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament,
finish the 2006-07 season with an overall record of 21-8, while the
Tigers (19-10) advance to the second round and will face the winner
of the Virginia Wesleyan/Averett University matchup.
The Tigers and Blazers traded baskets in the opening minutes of
the contest as both squads shook off any pre-game jitters early.
Hood was able to penetrate the Tigers' interior defense and cash in
on several key layups as part of a 10-0 run which gave the Blazers
a 22-12 lead with 7:14 to play in the half.
But the Tigers countered with a spurt of their own, scoring
eight straight points off Hood turnovers to cut the deficit to
22-20 at the 5:49 mark.
The Blazers did not surrender their lead though and despite a
Mike Edwards' three-pointer at the buzzer, Hood clung to a 32-30
edge at intermission.
Sophomore Nnamdi Uzoukwu provided a spark off the bench after
starters Sean Robine and Jesse Gutekunst were held to limited
minutes due to foul trouble in the first half. Uzoukwu scored four
points, grabbed a pair of rebounds and blocked a shot. Sophomore
Ryan Junghans connected on all three of his first-half field goal
attempts for eight points.
Gutekunst and Robine were each whistled for their fourth fouls
of the contest with 12:00 remaining in the second half. The Tigers
used suffocating defensive pressure to force the Blazers to turn
the ball over. But HSC was unable to capitalize on the offensive
end until Drew Prehmus reeled off eight straight points, capped by
a trey from the right wing, to give the Tigers their first lead of
the contest, 51-49, at the 10:00 mark.
The lead seesawed back and forth over the next several
possessions but it was Prehmus again who drained the long-range
bucket to snap a 56-56 tie with just over three minutes to play.
The junior guard was clutch down the stretch as well, draining a
trey from the top of the key to make it 62-57 with just over a
minute to play.
Gutekunst was fouled on a putback and went to the line for two,
but was unable to connect on both attempts. The Blazers were then
forced to foul but Turner King missed the front end of a
one-and-one. Hood quickly worked the ball up the court and found
Junghans at the top of the key who drilled a huge three to make it
a two-point game, 62-60, with 39.2 ticks left.
The Blazers then fouled Prehmus who nailed both free throws on
his one-and-one opportunity to give HSC a 64-60 edge. Sophomore
Anthony Bennett then got a runner in the lane to go to cut it to
64-62 with 13.5 seconds on the clock and the Blazers used a
timeout. Hood fouled Prehmus on the inbounds once again who nailed
both free throws to make it a four-point game.
But the Blazers wouldn't go away as Junghans knocked down
another trey from the left wing to make it 66-65 with just 2.1
seconds left. The Blazers once again called timeout and on the
ensuing inbounds play, Bryon Lawton inbounded the ball to midcourt
to King who was fouled and went to the line for two. King made both
free throws to make it a three-point game. Gutekunst tried to
inbound the ball the length of the court but was whistled for a
five-second call, and time ran out on the Blazers.
Junghans was perfect from the field, draining all eight of his
field goal attempts for a game-high 23 points. Gutekunst finished
with 11 points while Arthur Claybon chipped in nine points off the
bench.
Hood shot 53.3 percent from the field but the Tigers connected
on 19-21 from the foul line and hauled in 14 offensive rebounds
while forcing 22 Blazer turnovers.
Prehmus led the Tigers with 23 points, including 20 in the
second half, while Mike Edwards finished with 14 and Jyri Laakso
registered 12.
