FREDERICK, Md. – The No. 22 men's basketball team had a tied MAC Commonwealth game through the half but a Blazer squad that shot a 60-percent clip in the second half fended off the Widener Pride 103-86 on Saturday afternoon in Woodsboro Bank Arena.
Inside the Box Score
Jude Huseby (Frederick, Md./Urbana) marks two assists short of a triple double posting a 18 point, 14 rebound and eight assist day.
Jevon Yarbrough (Hagerstown, Md./Williamsport) scores 26, 12 of which game off free throws. He drew 10 fouls on the evening.
Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen) shoots 8-for-10 with four triples to sum up at 21-point effort.
How it Happened
Early success beyond the arc for the visiting team proved difficult for the Blazers, luckily the play of Huseby to stretch the floor and utilize his size left him on the brink of double double territory before the half.
Hood started the second half with the what they know best, running downhill and testing the legs of the Widener Pride. Yarbrough built off what started as a quiet scoring effort with a pair of made free throws after drawing contact, Robinson then split the middle of the defense on the next possession to take a four-point lead.
With continued physicality, the home squad went on a 16-2 run into the second half to lead by 14 with 15 minutes to go. And if the fouls weren't enough physicality, a handoff to Jack Boyln for another slam at the rack lit the fire in Woodsboro Bank Arena.
The Blue & Grey weren't out of the woods yet, Myles Bright his threes on the next 3-of-4 possessions to close the gap to six. The response was an inbound from Huseby that would land safely in the breadbasket of Yarbrough for one of the conference's top scorers to do some acrobatics to make a driving bucket.
Karron Mallory (Manchester, Pa./Northeastern) did not see much action with the rock, but his efforts on getting teammates open and diving for loose balls translated to a corner three to put the home team up 13 with four minutes to go to shut out any chance of a Widener comeback.
"It was a good win for us in a different type of game than we're used to," said head coach
Chad Dickman.
"I thought they did a really nice job of pressuring us out of our actions offensively and keeping is uncomfortable with their press. We turned it over too much in first half and made some uncharacteristic decisions with the ball, and they made us pay."
"I thought we played smarter and with more poise in the second half, executed a little bit better, and improved defensively."
Analysis
Widener made 15 three-pointers on the afternoon.
The Blazers shot 66-percent in the second half to outpace the Pride.
For the Opponent
Myles Bright dropped 33 points off of eight made triples and added seven assists.
Jacob Ayree shot an efficient 9-for-14 off the bench for 22 points.
Notes
Hood improves to 13-2, 4-0 in the conference to stay at the top.
Widener falls to 5-10, and a 2-2 split of the conference to sit in sixth place.
Up Next
The squad continues the homestand by hosting third-place conference opponent Alvernia on Wednesday, January 21 with tip off set for 7 p.m..
