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By Steve Carpenter
HCC Sports Information Director
Friday, December 7, 2007
Bobby Maze had his third 30-point game and
Ken Bowman had his seventh double-double of the season as the two sophomores
helped the Hutchinson Community College men’s basketball team cruise to its
fourth victory in a row with a 97-72 win over Central Nebraska on Friday
night at the Airport Steakhouse Classic at the Sports Arena.
Maze, with his parents in attendance for the
first time this season, scored 31 points on 12 of 19 shooting. He also
finished with eight assists – only two turnovers – five rebounds and three
steals to lead the Blue Dragons (9-4). Maze had 20 points and six assists
with no turnovers in the first half.
Bowman had his second-straight double-double,
finishing with 17 points and 11 rebounds.
The Blue Dragons built a 30-point lead at
halftime on crisp offensive execution (55.6 percent shooting) and stellar
defense, holding the Raiders (6-6) to 31.1 percent in the first half.
“I thought we were playing unselfishly, but
more than anything, we were doing a great job of defending,” said HCC head
coach Ryan Swanson of the opening 20 minutes. “We were limiting them to one
shot and their shots were contested. Because of that, we were able to get
into transition and that’s why we were able to score as many points as we
did.”
Central Nebraska, though, came out on fire in
the second half and HCC didn’t match the Raiders’ intensity. Central
Nebraska hit its first eight shots and 13 of its first 16 shots in the
second half to power a 31-13 run over the first nine minutes of the second
half to pull within 12 at 66-54. The Dragons outscored the Raiders 31-18
after that.
“They came out ready to play and they showed
great effort in the second half and made some unbelievable shots,” Maze said
of Central’s second-half play. “They scored a variety of ways and they
played hard.”
“(Aaron Morrissey) was making everything,”
added redshirt freshman Antonio Weary. “We came out sluggish thinking we had
the game already and they came out ready.”
The Blue Dragons shot 39 of 76 from the floor
(51.3 percent) and was 6 of 23 from 3-point range and 13 of 23 from the
free-throw line. The Dragons tied a season high with 54 rebounds,
outrebounding Central Nebraska 54-35. The Dragons built its 30-point first
half lead shooting 20 of 36 in the opening 20 minutes.
Four Dragons scored in double figures. Weary
finished with 15 points and five rebounds. Sophomore Abdul Herrera tied
season highs with 14 points and seven rebounds, all in just 9 minutes, 52
seconds of playing time.
Defensively, the Dragons held an opponent to
less than 40-percent shooting for the fourth-straight game. The Raiders were
27 of 69 overall (39.1 percent) and 8 of 20 from 3-point range. Central was
10 of 19 from the stripe and committed 16 turnovers.
Aaron Morrissey scored 22 of his team-high 24
points in the second half, sinking 4 3-point goals. Avery Walker and Jamel
LaBranch had 11 points each.
It took awhile for HCC to finally came
control in the first half. After a Maze jumper gave HCC an 8-7 lead – the
fourth lead change of the game – with 14:25 to play, that sparked an 11-0
Hutch run. Weary’s transition hoop from a Maze assist have the Dragons a
17-7 lead with 11:07 to play in the half.
Leading 25-16, the Dragons went on a 15-4 run
over the next four minutes and led 40-19 on a Blake Bales 3-pointer with
4:04 to play. Hutch then closed the half on a 9-0 run over the final 2:24 to
take a 54-24 lead into the locker room.
A Bowman three-point play to start the second
half gave HCC a 56-23 lead and the Raiders caught fire. Backed by the
incredible shooting of Morrissey and LaBranch, Central Nebraska outscored
HCC 31-10, pulling within 66-54 with 11:01 to play on a Walker bucket.
Sophomore Lamar Falley then drilled a
3-pointer and Weary added another transition bucket to stem the Raider tide
and start an 11-0 HCC run over the next three minutes. Herrera’s bucket with
7:47 to play gave HCC a 77-54 lead. Hutch’s lead never fell under 21 again.
The Blue Dragons will close out the
non-conference portion of their schedule on Saturday against the Friends
University JV at 7:30 p.m. at the Sports Arena.
GAME NOTES
– HCC is now 6-0 all-time against Central Nebraska. … This was the fourth
time this season HCC shot 50 percent or better. … Central’s Michael McLeod
is the sixth opponent to have nine rebounds vs. HCC this season, the most by
an opposing player. … The 54 points in the first half was the most in a
single half this season by HCC.
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OTHER QUOTES
Head Coach Ryan Swanson
On Central Nebraska’s comeback …
“When we didn’t defend, we allowed them to be
good offensively. There was a 15-minute stretch where we didn’t defend well
and we didn’t take care of the ball either. We played about as well as we
could in the first half and we had some slippage in the second half. I will
take the win, which is the main thing.”
On Bobby Maze’s performance …
“I knew he was playing well, but when I saw
he had 20 (points) and six (assists) with no turnovers, that’s an amazing
game, let alone a first half. Bobby’s capable of that. I knew Bobby would
play well because him mom and dad were here.”
On Abdul Herrera’s performance …
“We are just trying to work Abdul into shape.
He hadn’t played in 2 ½ years and we knew it would be a process. He’s
showing signs of playing more and more and he’s going to be a factor.”
Sophomore Bobby Maze
On HCC’s first-half performance …
“We came out ready to play. There was a nice
crowd and we wanted to win the game. Everybody was clicking. We have a good
flow and everybody was knocking down shots.”
On the slow second-half start …
“We came out a little slow when we were up
30. Coach wanted us to jump on them and put them away. They came out and hit
some nice shots. The end result was that we won. That’s what I’m glad
about.”
Redshirt freshman Antonio Weary
On the first half …
“The first half, we got out there and came
out ready to play. Everybody was doing what they were supposed to do and we
were playing great defense. We started a little slow in the second half. We
got our heads back into it and we started playing unselfish. That’s how we
got the lead in the first half.” |
