FREDERICK, Md.--The Hood College men's basketball team (6-13,
3-7 CAC) drained a season-high 13 three-pointers en route to a
97-81 Capital Athletic Conference victory over the visiting
University of Mary Washington Eagles (10-8, 7-3 CAC) Saturday at
Gov. Thomas Johnson High School.
Hood came into the contest ranked eighth in the CAC and needed
to play a solid all-around game in order to defeat the then
second-ranked Eagles, who had only lost two CAC games all season.
The Blazers did just that, shooting over 60 percent from the field
(a season-high) and committing just 13 turnovers (a season-low) to
end a four-game seasonal losing skid and earn its first win over
UMW in four tries.
Mary Washington held a 15-9 advantage at the 14:39 mark of the
first half before the Blazers reeled off 14 straight points to turn
a six-point defricit into an eight-point lead (23-15) over a span
of just 3:29. Freshman Brendan Straughn buried a pair of threes and
had eight points in the spurt.
The Eagles closed to within two on two occaisions but the
Blazers closed the half with a 13-4 run, capped by another
long-range bucket from Straughn, and Hood took a 44-33 lead into
the locker room.
Hood continued to click on all cylinders offensively in the
second half, connecting on seven of its first eight shots from the
field out of the break. The Blazer lead swelled to as much as 26
(69-43) with 12:30 to go in regulation. The Eagles wouldn't go away
though and gradually chipped away at the sizeable deficit. A trey
by Matt Hale cut the Blazer lead to eight (82-74) with 2:20 to
play, but the Eagles got no closer as Hood nailed 13-of-14 from the
foul line down the stretch.
Straughn led all scorers with a career-high 29 points, including
five three-pointers, and dished seven assists. Freshman Chris
Leggett, who earned his second straight start of the season, came
into the game having scored 22 points in his first 10 games in the
blue and grey; he pumped in 19 today on 5-of-8 from the field and
7-of-8 from the stripe. Senior Tim Abercrombie finished with nine
points and seven assists while Garrett Williams came off the bench
to net 14 points, hitting all five of his field goal attempts which
included three from downtown.
Hood's 97 points were a season-high, eclipsing the previous mark
of 96 set in the second game of the season against Penn
State-Hazelton.
The Blazers host CAC rival Gallaudet University Monday at
Frederick Community College at 8 p.m.
