FREDERICK, Md. – Five players finished in double-digits to showcase the Hood College men's basketball team's powerful offense as they took down No. 15 Widener University 95-70 to open up play in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth.
Inside the Box Score
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) scored a career-best 18 points on the night shooting 7-11 from the field including 2-3 from three-point range.
Trumaine Strickland (Frederick, Md./Tuscarora) finished with 18 points of his own, shooting a near-perfect 5-6 from the field and going 3-3 from beyond the arc.
Ryan Hollwedel (Ellicott City, Md./Centennial) ended the game with 15 points, only shooting long balls and making five out of six of them.
Kullen Robinson (Alexandria, Va./Alexandria City) also put up 15 points, finishing 6-7 from the floor, and a pristine 2-2 from downtown, adding three steals on top of that.
Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) came down with nine rebounds and picked up eight assists and three steals.
How it Happened
Hood started the game off living for the long ball, as the first five baskets for the Blazers were all three-pointers courtesy of Hollwedel, Cox, and
Jack Fricka (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) to give them a 15-8 lead just over seven minutes into the half.
Strickland scored the game's next five points all in free throw fashion, as Hood's defense continued to shut down Widener.
After a Pride layup made it a 25-15 game halfway through the first half, the Blazers again turned up the offensive pressure with a 17-8 run over the next 4:37.
Hood matched the Widener offense shot-for-shot for the rest of the period, entering halftime with a commanding 58-41 lead, with 30 of those points split evenly between Cox and Hollwedel.
The Pride struck first in the second half with a three-pointer from Luke Mazur, but
Justin Gielen (Edgewater, Md./DeMatha) decided to take matters into his own hands by singlehandedly outscoring Widener 10-8 for the first 3:14 of the half.
Some exchanging of shots saw the score sitting at 73-55 nine minutes in, but the Blazers put the game completely out of reach with a 15-4 run across the next 3:44 of play.
Hood would get their largest lead, a 29-point margin, in the form of a 95-66 advantage with just over four minutes left before Widener shrunk the score to 95-70 as the final buzzer sounded.
For the Opponent
Anthony DiCaro finished with 12 points, a team high.
Dominic Dunn snagged 10 rebounds and three steals in the game.
Analysis
Hood's offense was phenomenal, shooting 54 percent from the floor and 55 percent from three-point range, compared to just 32 percent and 25 percent for Widener.
The Blazers' bench outscored the Pride's 42-34.
Hood outrebounded Widener 42-40.
Notes
The Blazers start conference play off right, improving to 9-2 overall, 1-0 in conference, while Widener drops to 10-2 overall, 0-1 in conference.
Up Next
Hood travels to Grantham, Pennsylvania to continue conference play against Messiah University Saturday, January 6 at 4 p.m.
