Philly Gym Rat (The Perry “QM” McMullin Story)

[PointGuard]

Game #25: Feb. 15, 2020; Maine Black Bears (10-13, 5-7) at New Hampshire Wildcats (13-11, 7-6)

Maine has lost 5 of their last 6 games. SG Reggie Howard is averaging 17.3 ppg and SF Imari Andrews is adding 14.3 ppg. Howard’s is knocking down 44% of his 3’s. We’ll try to give him a lot of attention.

Maine came out loaded for Bear….errr, I guess that’s not right, they came out loaded for Wildcats. They took an 8-2 lead in the first 2 minutes and an 11-5 lead after 4 minutes of play by hitting 3 of 4 from beyond the arc. After 8 minutes the Black Bears led 21-15 after hitting 8 of 10 FG attempts including connecting on 5 of 6 three-point shots. After hitting 11 of their first 13 shots (and 6 of 7 from 3 point land) and building a 12 point lead, Maine finally began missing and we crept back into the game. We finished the first half by pulling into a 39-39 tie. Bobby Havens scored 13 points for us.

We took our first lead of the game one minute into the 2nd half. We took an 8 point lead, but Maine got scorcing hot again and re-opened a 13 point lead. We came back but couldn’t overtake the Black Bears.

Final Score: Maine-82, New Hampshire-76. New Hampshire season record: 13-12; American East record: 7-7 (4th place tie).

Scoring leaders: Havens-21, Windland-14, Kresse-10.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-7, Windlan-6.

Assist leaders: Strickland-7, Havens-3.

Player of the Game: Maine’s SG Reggie Howard-21 pts, 4 reb, 5 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SF Byron WIndlan-14 pts, 6 reb, 2 assists.

Other notes: Maine blistered the nets (56%). We hit 45% of our shots. Maine also made 15 of 26 from beyond the arc. The Black Bears out-rebounded us 30-26 but we held a 17-7 turnover advantage.

Another disappointing home loss for us. As Forrest Gump would say, "This Wildcat team is a lot like a box of chocolates. You never know what you're gonna get."

[JMD]

Up and down, I see.

[PointGuard]

Yes, that's the theme of this season. If it weren't for underperforming, we'd have no performing at all.

[CoachC]

went through that in my dynasty while I was at Gardner-Webb, PG. One thing i learned there is that 5 good games in March when you FINALLY put it together is a thing of beauty. Seems like your team is a lot like those. And I swear that everytime I make them run laps for two hours in my dynasty reports, it's like somehow they hear about it in the game! lol you can do it!

"If it weren't for underperforming, we'd have no performing at all."

sounds a lot like one of my favorite sports quotes of all time.... when Lefty Gomez was asked about his young Angels team at one time in the 60's he said, "Our phenoms just aren't phenominating!"

Kick some but, make some changes, play some guys that haven't been getting minutes, run faster, run slower, play more sets, play fewer sets, double team 4 guys at once if you have to..... make it work!

[PointGuard]

Game #26: Feb. 18, 2020; New Hampshire Wildcats (13-12, 7-7) at Stony Brook Sea Wolves (16-9, 10-3)

Oh, oh! Now we have to play the conference leaders on their home court. The Sea Wolves SG Lamont Chase is scoring 15.2 ppg and doing it efficiently (43% from the field and 44% from 3 point distance). Our challenge will be to make it more difficult for him to score. We beat Stony Brook earlier this year, but it was close (68-62) and it was on our home court.

During the first 10 minutes of the 1st half, we harassed the Sea Wolves, making it difficult for them to move the ball effectively. We also hit 53% of our shots and built a 25-12 lead with 9:28 left in the half. The Sea Wolves got some better looks at the basket from thereon and made a couple mini-runs, but we continued to knock down our shots and took a nine point lead to the locker room (42-33). We forced Stony Brook to turn the ball over 10 times in the first half. Bobby Havens again was our leading scorer with 12 points.

Stony Brook came out with a determined look on their faces and quickly cut our lead to 4 points. But we then applied a tenacious defense that allowed us to not only re-establish our lead but increase it to as much as 16 points. Our team showed “true grit” in winning decisively against the league-leaders on their own court.

Final Score: New Hampshire-73, Stony Brook-61. New Hampshire season record: 14-12; American East record: 8-7 (3rd place).

Scoring leaders: Havens-26, Kresse-15, Reid-9, Strickland-8.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-12, Watson-6, Niebauer-5, Windlan-5.

Assist leaders: Niebauer-3, Havens-3, Windlan-3.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-26 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists, 4 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Andrew Kresse-15 pts, 12 reb, 1 assist.

Other notes: We hit 45% of our shots and held Stony Brook to 39% shooting. We dominated the boards 40-32 and held a 16-13 turnover advantage. We scored 36 points in the paint. Andrew Kresse had another double-double (15 points and 12 rebounds). We contained Lamont Chase in the first half, but he showed his class in the 2nd half and finished with 21 points on 8 for 16 shooting (and 5 for 9 from 3-point distance).

[PointGuard]

Game #27: Feb. 25, 2020; Binghamton Bearcats (12-14, 8-7) at New Hampshire Wildcats (14-12, 8-7)

Binghamton spanked us 70-46 the first time we played them this year. They’re on our home court this time. We need to win this one to position ourselves well for the conference tournament. The Bearcats have very even scoring throughout their lineup. Their top scorer is C Jamal Weston with 11.4 ppg.

I start an all-senior team this game (in our final home game of the season), but bring in two usual starters shortly after the game is in progress.

Binghamton came onto the court with fire in their eyes and hit 5 of their first 6 shots to take a 5 point lead early, but we struck back with our own hot shooting and captured the lead and held it throughout the rest of the half. We walked off the court with a 47-36 lead. Bobby Havens dropped in 16 points and Vernard Strickland added 14 more.

Both teams continued rain in shots from all over the court early in the 2nd half, but by the 15:36 point, we led 62-44. Binghamton cut into our lead late in the game as we played our reserves extensively, but we won easily.

Final Score: New Hampshire-85, Binghamton-77. New Hampshire season record: 15-12; American East record: (9-7, 3rd place tie).

Scoring leaders: Havens-25, Strickland-16, Windlan-13, Kresse-10, Neubauer-8.

Rebound leaders: Babul-7, Kresse-6.

Assist leaders: Strickland-8, Havens-3, Neubauer-3.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-25 pts, 2 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-16 pts, 1 reb, 8 assists, 1 steal, 1 block.

Other notes: We hit 54% of our shots, but let Binghamton knock down 59% of their shots. But we forced Binghamton to make 16 turnovers while making just 9 ourselves.

[PointGuard]

Stony Brook................11-5.....17-11.....RPI: 156
Albany.......................10-6.....14-14.....RPI: 129
Maine.........................9-7......14-13.....RPI: 252
New Hampshire..........9-7......15-12.....RPI: 173
Binghamton..................8-8......12-15.....RPI: 211
Boston........................8-8......12-15.....RPI: 311
Hartford......................7-9.......9-18......RPI: 271
Vermont......................7-9......10-17.....RPI: 278
UMBC.........................3-13......6-21......RPI: 351

This year we have a collection of rather mediocre teams with overall very poor RPI's.

[PointGuard]

UMBC (3-13, 6-21) vs Vermont (7-9, 10-17)—[Vermont took a 9 point lead in the first half, but UMBC cut the lead to 39-37 at the half. UMBC used trips to the foul line to move ahead in the 2nd half. Sean Smith scored 25 points for UMBC. Jamie Welch tossed in 27 points for Vermont. Final Score: UMBC-83, Vermont-79.]

[PointGuard]

UMBC (3-13, 7-21) vs Stony Brook (11-5, 17-11)—[The biggest lead by either team in this game was 5 points. Stony Brook held a 31-30 halftime lead. The second half continued to be a donnybrook. There were 21 lead changes and 15 ties in the game. Stony Brook escaped an upset by getting to the line 14 more times and scoring 8 more points on free throws. Lamont Chase scored 20 points for Stony Brook. Sean Smith was UMBC’s top scorer with 26 points. Final Score: Stony Brook-69, UMBC-66.]

Hartford (7-9, 9-18) vs Albany (10-6, 14-14)—[Albany applied a rock-solid defense, taking a 24-14 lead at the half. They continued to stymie Hartford in the 2nd half, holding the Hawks to 27% shooting and forcing 20 turnovers. Larry LaFlem led Albany with 15 points. No one for Hartford scored in double figures. Final Score: Albany-50, Hartford-33.]

Boston (8-8, 12-15) vs Maine (9-7, 14-13)—[Boston took a 50-44 lead at the half. But Maine took control in the 2nd half by finally stopping Boston’s offensive output. Maine was led by Imari Andrews who scored 25 points. Wesley Campbell came off the bench to top Boston’s scorers with 16 points. Final Score: Maine-90, Boston-84.]


Game #28: Mar. 2, 2020; Binghamton Bearcats (8-8, 12-15) vs New Hampshire Wildcats (15-12, 9-7)

We split our regular season games with the Bearcats.

Both teams came out stone cold, but Binghamton began hitting shots before we did and took an 18-9 lead with 8:45 left in the first half. We had only hit one FG at that point. We fought back and took a 23-22 lead with 4 minutes left in the half. We fell apart in the final four minutes though and let Binghamton move out to a 36-29 halftime lead. We hit 31% of our shots and Binghamton connected on 37% of theirs. Andrew Kresse scored 8 points for us.

We again fell behind by 9 points early in the 2nd half, but put on a run that gave us a 54-52 lead with 12 minutes to play. We increased our lead to 7 with 8 minutes left. We kept the pressure on until the end of the game, pulling away in the final minutes.

Final Score: New Hampshire-79, Binghamton-66. New Hampshire season record: 16-12.

Scoring leaders: Havens-27, Kresse-14, Strickland-8, Reid-8.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-6, Babul-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-10.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-27 pts, 3 reb.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-8 pts, 3 reb, 10 assists, 1 steal, 2 blocks.

Other notes: We scored on 44% of our FG attempts (and 53% of our 3’s) and held Binghamton to 41%. Binghamton out-rebounded us 35-27, but we held a 17-12 turnover advantage.

[PointGuard]

Maine (15-13, 9-7) vs Albany (15-14, 10-6)—[Coming into this game Albany had a 4 game win streak and seems to be peaking at the right time. They broke out on top in this game and never looked back. By the half, they led 43-32. The Great Danes dominated Maine completely hitting 54% of their FG attempts (compared to Maine’s 41%, 56% of their 3’s (contrasted to Maine’s 33%, and out-rebounded the Black Bears 37-22. Paul Kirkland scored 25 points for Albany. Reggie Howard was Maine’s leading scorer with 14 points. Final Score: Albany-78, Maine-59.]


Game #29: Mar. 3, 2020; New Hampshire Wildcats (16-12, 9-7) vs Stony Brook Sea Wolves (18-11, 11-5)

We split the season series with Stony Brook, both teams winning on the road, so we’ll see who comes to play on a neutral court. Lamont Chase is scoring 15.5 ppg for the Sea Wolves.

Neither team could get an advantage in the first five minutes, but then Stony Brook got sloppy with the ball and we took advantage to open a 7 point lead midway through the first half. We continued to streak, building out lead to 21 points before Stony Brook trimmed it a little in the last few minutes. But we took a 55-39 lead to the locker room. The Sea Wolves hit 52% of their shots, but we hit 67% of ours. We also held a 12-4 turnover advantage. Bobby Havens was simply on fire, scoring 24 points.

We never let up in the 2nd half, building as much as a 28 point lead.

Final Score: New Hampshire-96, Stony Brook-72. New Hampshire season record: 17-12.

Scoring leaders: Havens-36, Kresse-19, Strickland-16, Windlan-13, Neubauer-8.
[
I]Rebound leaders: [/I]Kresse-6, Watson-6, Havens-6.

Assist leaders: Windlan-4, Kresse-3.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-36 pts, 6 reb, 1 assist, 2 steals, 1 block.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Andrew Kresse-19 pts, 6 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals.

Other notes: We poured in 60% of our shots. Stony Brook hit 51% of theirs. We dominated the boards 26-19 and forced the Sea Wolves to make 23 turnovers while we turned the ball over just 12 times. We scored 48 points in the paint compared to Stony Brook’s 14 and had 24 fast break points while Stony Brook had just 4.