Sports

Men's basketball starts hot, wins Hamilton Invitational

By Will Kaback ’20

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It’s hard to imagine a better start to the season for the men’s basketball team. Following a close defeat in their season opener to Catholic University, the Continentals have ripped off a four-game winning streak, culminating in their hoisting the trophy as winners of the Hamilton Invitational Championship last Sunday. At 4 -1, they’ve notched impressive victories over teams like Clarkson University and SUNY Oswego. They’ll look to capitalize on the excellent results from last weekend to build momentum during a challenging month ahead. 

Winning a tournament is fun enough, but winning your own invitational tournament is cause for celebration. The exclusive weekend of play featured Clarkson, Oswego, Colby College and the Continentals in single-elimination bracket play. The high-stakes organization meant that every possession mattered, and the team made sure to play with enough energy to match the situation. 

In their first game, it appeared a championship appearance was a lock as they jumped out to a 54-41 halftime lead over Clarkson, overwhelming the Golden Knights with a ruthlessly efficient offensive scheme. However, it was a tale of two halves, and Clarkson came raging back as soon as play resumed. Drew Zlogar ’17 of Clarkson lead the comeback, notching a game-high 30 points, but the Continentals eventually buckled down and fought to hold their position. After the Golden Knights tied the game at 90 apiece with 2:54 left in the game, the two teams entered into a defensive stalemate characterized by staunch protection of the paint and physical play. However, the offensive firepower of Hamilton’s forward guard, Peter Hoffman ’19, proved to be the difference, as the sophomore broke the tie with his 24th point of the game—a free throw—that would put the team up for good. A 96-92 victory tested their mettle, but ultimately showed that they are capable of persevering through late game adversity. 

Perhaps the most notable result from the Clarkson game was the rise of Kena Gilmour ’20. A first-year out of New Paltz, New York, Gilmour came off the bench and exploded for a team-high 26 points in just 22 minutes. Shooting a remarkable 8-9 from the field, as well as 9-11 at the free throw line, he proved to be the edge the team needed in order to hold on against a feisty opponent. Gilmour is averaging 13.2 points per game and shooting 60 percent from the field, making him a key contributor off the bench going forward. Other first-years like Vincent Conn, Sayo Denloye, and Mark Lutz have also played meaningful minutes through the first five games and look to round out a talented core of young players. 

While the Continentals certainly boast an impressive slew of first-year players, the sophomore class contains the greatest offensive potential. Leading the charge is Tim Doyle and Hoffman, who have each followed up standout first-year campaigns with stellar starts to the 2016-17 season. The two are currently tied atop the team’s scoring list with 20 points per game, with Doyle shooting an incredible 67.7 percent from the field and Hoffman posting an impressive 3.3 steals per game and 1.3 blocks per game on the defensive end. Michael Grassley ’19 is right there with them, complimenting 11.8 points per game with a team-high 7.6 rebounds per game. The three have accounted for over 60 percent of the team’s 85.6 points per game, while ranking near the top in many other significant categories. Going forward, maintaining these contributions will be imperative to continuing the streak of success the team has enjoyed through the first five games of the season. 

Despite these eye-popping individual statistics, the team needed a holistic effort in order to beat Oswego in the championship game on Sunday. Facing his former team, Head Coach Adam Stockwell executed a game plan that relied on a dominant presence in the paint and aggressive defense. The game began in a similar fashion to the semifinal, only with the Continentals facing a halftime deficit. Oswego made them pay for the tight defensive coverage with crisp ball movement that garnered a field goal percentage of 60 percent in the first half. However, thanks to Stockwell’s second half adjustments and the team’s improved play in the final 20 minutes, Oswego would go on to shoot only 25.9 percent from the field. As is often the case, good defense led to momentum-shifting offense, and, lead by a deluge of buckets from Hoffman, the team won the second half by a margin of 16 points en route to a 78-70 victory. Aside from Hoffman’s team-high 22 points (in addition to the tournament’s Most Valuable Player honor,) Grassley dropped 18 and Jack Dwyer ’18 dominated with 15 points, 10 assists and 6 rebounds, resulting in All-Tournament honors. Additionally, Gilmour continued his strong play with nine crucial second-half points off the bench. 

The team doesn’t seem to have any trouble scoring, but, as Sunday’s game showed, defense could be the difference between a deep playoff run and an early round upset. Thus far, they’ve had considerable success with their hawkish style of play, with their 11 steals per game nearly matching their 11.8 turnovers per game. However, as they face teams with greater ball discipline, they’ll have to ensure that their paint presence and overall communication are sound in order to keep up such stifling defense. They’ve proved that they can win nail-biters; now they’ll have to show that they can maintain leads and lean on their defense to get them back into games in which they trail. 

A superb start to the season is well earned for this team, but a daunting December that sees them playing all five of their games on the road will indicate how far they’ve come and what aspects of their game still need to be improved upon. They are a young team, but one that features dazzling scorers and all-around contributors who will no doubt be key to building momentum before conference play begins in January. With Stockwell at the helm, they seem to have found an early recipe for success. If they can continue to execute, there may be a few more trophy ceremonies in the near future. 

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