OWINGS MILLS, Md. – A scoring surge from
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) helped the Hood College men's basketball team to a 76-63 win over Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth opponent Stevenson University.
Inside the Box Score
Cox finished with a career-high 23 points, shooting 9-15 from the field, including 5-6 from three-point range.
Justin Gielen (Edgewater, Md./DeMatha) ended the evening with an 11-point, 11-rebound double-double.
Soren Almquist (Oakton, Va./James Madison) scored 14 points with a 60 percent shooting rate.
Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) totaled 12 assists in the game.
How it Happened
Stevenson would score the first points of the game with a three-pointer 24 seconds in, but that would be the only time they would have the lead.
Hood answered with a 15-2 run over the next three and a half minutes, with Cox scoring 13 of those himself.
Both teams would go back-and-forth over the next several minutes, with the Blazers holding a 22-12 lead 10 minutes in, and then 28-18 with five minutes left in the half.
The Mustangs got hot late in the half, ending with a 10-5 run to cut Hood's lead to 33-28 after 20 minutes of play.
The second half started off well for the Blazers, with
Ryan Hollwedel (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) scoring five points in the first minute to restore Hood's lead to 10 points.
Stevenson fired back, scoring the next eight points to cut the Blazers' lead to two, making it a 38-36 game just three minutes into the second half, but a 9-1 run from Hood pushed the lead to double digits once again.
The Blazers continued to power through offensively, maintaining their double-digit lead and eventually pushing it to 15 points with a 74-59 advantage with two minutes left.
Jack Fricka (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) made two free throws to finish the scoring for Hood, while the Mustangs got one more three-pointer before the buzzer ended to make the final score 76-63.
For the Opponent
Ronald Ayers led the Mustangs with 24 points off 9-14 shooting, with a nice 6-9 three-point shooting rate.
Zach Bolgert came down with nine rebounds.
Analysis
Hood shot 51 percent overall, and 37 percent from three-point range, while Stevenson shot 33 percent overall, and 32 percent from three-point range.
The Blazers outrebounded the Mustangs 39-32.
Stevenson's bench outscored Hood's 29-23.
Notes
The Blazers stay undefeated in conference play, improving to 13-2 (5-0), while the Mustangs drop to 7-9 (1-4).
Up Next
Hood travels to York, Pennsylvania for a MAC Commonwealth game against York College Saturday, January 20, at 3 p.m.
