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

[PointGuard]

Game #16: Jan. 12, 2019; Vermont Catamounts (4-12, 2-3) at New Hampshire Wildcats (9-6, 2-2)

Flu seems to have fun it’s course and the team (and coach) are back to normal. Vermont is led by SG Myron Degala (10.7 ppg).

It took 3 minutes before either team scored. We held a 20-5 lead with 10 minutes to play in the first half and continued to dominate the Catamounts the rest of the half. We went to the locker room with a 45-20 advantage. We hit 62% of our shots while holding Vermont to 33% shooting. Bobby Havens poured in 24 points.

The second half was very much like the first. Our entire bench got extended minutes on the court.

Final Score: New Hampshire-88, Vermont-56. New Hampshire season record: 10-6; American East record: 3-2 (3rd place).

Scoring leaders: Havens-42, Strickland-12, Augustus-8, Beck-8.

Rebound leaders: Kamara-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-7, Havens-5, Augustus-4, Kamara-3, Jeppson-3.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-42 pts, 4 reb, 5 assists, 2 steals.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-12 pts, 1 reb, 7 assists, 1 block.

Other notes: We scorched the net by hitting 61% of our shots (and 50% of our 3’s). We out-rebounded the Catamounts 27-19. We held an 18-10 turnover advantage.

[PointGuard]

Game #17: Jan. 16, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (10-6, 3-2) at UMBC Retrievers (8-8, 2-3)

UMBC runs a fast-paced offense and put points on the board quickly. SG Sean Smith is averaging 21.9 ppg. We need to control him.

Sean Smith scored 5 points in the first minute of play. While he scored no more points in the first half, we sucked offensively, shooting just 33% and making 13 turnovers. By the end of the half we trailed 31-22. Nate Augustus and Vernard Strickland led our scoring with just 4 points apiece.

We began chipping away at UMBC’s lead as soon as the 2nd half started, but it was a slow process. Finally we edged to a 46-45 lead at the 6:55 mark. We expanded our lead to 8 points in the next 2 minutes. And we continued to add to our lead the rest of the way gaining a rare road victory.

Final Score: New Hampshire-66, UMBC-53. New Hampshire season record: 11-6; American East record: 4-2 (2nd place).

Scoring leaders: Havens-14, Augustus-11, Strickland-9, Kamara-9, Kresse-9.

Rebound leaders: Beck-8, Strickland-6, Augustus-5.

Assist leaders: Augustus-5, Strickland-3, Kresse-3.

Player of the Game: PG Nate Augustus-11 pts, 5 reb, 5 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Andrew Kresse-9 pts, 4 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks.

Other notes: We hit over 60% of our shots in the 2nd half and for the entire game hit 49%. We won the battle of the boards 38-26. I was upset that we had 17 turnovers, but fortunately UMBC nearly turned the ball as much (13 times). We held UMBC’s Sean Smith to 9 points on 3 of 14 shooting. This game was a great 2nd half turn-around for us.

Edvin Jeppson suffered a sprained finger, and his play will be limited for 10 days.

Jake Watson is nearly recovered from his broken hand and may begin playing in our next game.

[PointGuard]

Game #18: Jan. 19, 2019; Stony Brook Sea Wolves (4-13, 2-4) at New Hampshire Wildcats (11-6, 4-2)

Stony Brook likes to slow things down and depend upon the shuttle offense. They primarily employ a man-to-man defense. SG Lamont Chase is their leading offensive weapon, averaging 15.5 ppg. They’ve been a bad road team thus far.

The two teams slogged through a ragged first half with neither team gaining an advantage. We finished atop 28-26 but both teams had shot under 40% and looked sluggish. I gave the team hell in the locker room to try to wake them up. Bobby Havens scored 15 points to lead our scoring.

Both teams came out in the 2nd half with a new energy. Stony Brook had more energy though and they were tossing in 3’s like they were uncontested layups. They opened a 6 point lead midway through the half. We fought back to tie the game. Down by 3 with 2 minutes to play, Nate Augustus used a pick to drive to the basket and pull up for a 5 footer that cut the Sea Wolves lead to 1 point. Another Stony Brook 3-pointer with 1 minute to play was like a dagger to our heart, putting us behind 65-61. After a time out, we got the ball to Bobby Havens, but his 3 missed the mark. We had to foul and Stony Brook added another point to their lead. We had two tries the next time down the court and couldn’t convert. The Sea Wolves added two points at the line. We finally hit a 3 but it was too little, too late. We lost a game at home that we shouldn’t have.

Final Score: Stony Brook-68, New Hampshire-64. New Hampshire season record: 11-7; American East record: 4-3 (3rd place tie).

Scoring leaders: Havens-33, Strickland-12, Kresse-9.

Rebound leaders: Havens-7.

Assist leaders: Strickland-6, Augustus-4.

Player of the Game: Stony Brook’s SG Lamont Chase-21 pts, 5 reb, 1 assist.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: SG Bobby Havens-33 pts, 7 reb, 1 steal.

Other notes: We got out-rebounded 38-26 but offset that by forcing the Sea Wolves to make 15 turnovers and making just 5 ourselves. Stony Brook hit 45% of their shots, we hit 42%. But they hit 11 of 21 from 3-point land and that was our downfall.

This was our first home loss. We’re having a lot of trouble with America East opponents. What looked to be a good season before conference play is turning into a rather ordinary one. Obviously we still have to put together some additional pieces before this team is rebuilt.

[PointGuard]

Game #19: Jan. 23, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (11-7, 4-3) at Boston Terriers (5-13, 2-5)

Boston is not as bad as their record would make them seem. They’ve had some tough conference losses. Their center LeRoy Qualls is averaging 15.3 ppg.

After missing the past 6 weeks with a broken hand, Jack Watson is fully recovered and suited up for action.

Boston hit 57% of their shots and got to the line 12 more times than us in the first half. We trailed 38-32 at the intermission. Our leading scorer was Bobby Havens with 17 points.

We scrappily fought our way back into the game in the 2nd half and took a 44-42 lead with 12:43 remaining. The refs took control of the game and both teams paraded repeatedly to the foul line. Both of my PG’s fouled out so I put William Kamara at the point for the final 5 minutes. Our 69-66 lead was erased when Boston hit a 3 with 11 seconds left. We called a time out and set up a play to free up William Kamara. He cut around the pick and put up a 10 foot baseline jumper than swished through the net with 3 seconds left. Our full court press kept the Terriers from getting up court to take a final shot.

Final Score: New Hamshire-71, Boston-69. New Hampshire season record: 12-7; East record: 5-3 (2nd place tie).

Scoring leaders: Havens-23, Strickland-12, Beck-10, Kamara-9, L. Smith-8.

Rebound leaders: Beck-8, Kresse-7, Kamara-7, Havens-6, L. Smith-5.

Assist leaders: Augustus-5, Kamara-5, Strickland-3.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-23 pts, 6 reb.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Adrian Beck-10 pts, 8 reb, 1 assist.

Other notes: Boston outshot us 46% to 44% and got to the line 7 more times than us where they scored 5 more points than did we. But we dominated the boards, 45-26, which ultimately was what won the game for us.

[PointGuard]

Game #20: Jan. 26, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (12-7, 5-3) at Binghamton Bearcats (9-10, 4-4)

Binghamton has had an up and down year like most of the teams in the America East, other than Albany. SG Jared Jensen is still their leading scorer, averaging 13.7 ppg. But PF Darrell Taylor is also averaging 11.3 ppg.

We came out on fire and quickly opened a 22-9 lead. Binghamton recovered but could never really cut into our lead much, then we spurted again at the end of the half. That gave us a 42-25 halftime advantage. We hit 68% of our shots and had a small advantage in both rebounds and turnovers. Our leading scorer was Bobby Havens with 14 points, but Andrew Kresse chipped in an additional 10 and pulled down 6 rebounds.

We quickly expanded our lead to 26 points early in the 2nd half as our hot shooting continued. Binghamton cut our lead to 12 late in the half, but we pulled away again.

Final Score: New Hampshire-86, Binghamton-63. New Hampshire season record: 13-7; American East record: 6-3 (2nd place tie).

Scoring leaders: Havens-27, Kresse-14, Kamara-13, Augustus-10.

Rebound leaders: Kresse-11.

Assist leaders: Augustus-9.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-27 pts, 3 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: C Andrew Kresse-14 pts, 11 reb, 3 assists, 2 steals, 1 block.

Other notes: We burned Binghamton’s gym down by hitting 63% of our shots (and 60% of our 3’s). We held the Bearcats’ shooting to 38%. We dominated the boards 36-22, but made 12 turnovers to Binghamton’s 9. Andrew Kresse had a double-double (14 points and 11 rebounds) and Nate Augustus nearly had a double-double (10 points and 9 assists). Binghamton’s SF Broderick Benton scored 30 points.

After the game, William Kamara experienced serious leg pain. He is likely to have to sit out our next game.

Bobby Havens won the America East Player of the Week award again (for the 5th time this season).

[PointGuard]

Game #21: Jan. 30, 2019; Hartford Hawks (8-13, 6-3) at New Hampshire Wildcats (13-7, 6-3)

Hartford continues to play well in conference play. The Hawks beat us by 10 on their home court earlier this year. So not only do we want to beat Hartford to even up the score, but we’re also presently tied with them in the conference so a win would move us into sole-possession of 2nd place. The Hawks have equal scoring throughout their lineup. Casey McMahon is their leading scorer (and only one averaging in double figures) with 11.1 ppg.

Both teams were scoreless for the first 3-1/2 minutes of the game. We opened an 11 point lead, but had to sit some of our starters because of foul trouble. That allowed Hartford to come back. By the end of the half, we held just a 33-32 lead. Vernard Strickland and Bobby Havens both scored 10 points.

Hartford took the lead very early in the 2nd half. We responded by going on a big run which put us on top 64-41 with 9-1/2 minutes to play. We continued to expand our lead until the end of the game.

Final Score: New Hampshire-87, Hartford-56. New Hampshire season record: 14-7; American East record: 7-3 (2nd place).

Scoring leaders: Havens-40, Strickland-20.

Rebound leaders: Strickland-5.

Assist leaders: Strickland-9, Augustus-4, Beck-4.

Player of the Game: SG Bobby Havens-40 pts, 3 reb, 1 assist.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Vernard Strickland-20 pts, 5 reb, 9 assists, 2 steals.

Other notes: We dropped in 57% of our shots, out-rebounded the Hawks 29-26, and held a 21-7 turnover advantage.

The long season is taking its toll: Chris Babol injured his wrist when he fell late in the game and Jerod Ryan is experiencing back spasms. Babul’s injury isn’t serious so he won’t miss the next game, but Ryan’s injury is likely to make him miss 2 or 3 games.

[PointGuard]

The Roadrunners have a season record thus far of 14-8 and are 6-3 in the Great West, one game behind North Dakota and tied with Texas Pan-American for 2nd place in the conference. Their RPI is 129th best in the country.

PF Terrence Delk leads their scoring (13.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.6 rpg). PG Tremain Jennings is scoring 9.5 ppg, but only dishing out 2.3 apg while making as many turnovers. But Lionel Benjamin has been coming off the bench at PG to score 7.0 ppg and hand out 1.6 apg with an A/TO ratio of 1.8. Shooting Guards Harold Masters and Brandon Vining have combined to average 13.9 ppg. Mike Dotson has been moved to SF from PF and is scoring 8.1 ppg.

So, not a bad year, but not a great one either. The Conference Tournament will likely be up for grabs amongst at least 3 teams.

For a second straight year, they are recruiting poorly, which is distressing. Because they did so badly last year, they have an incredible 10 scholarships they can offer this year. Thus far they have signed exactly NO recruits. Unless they pick up a bunch this spring, they will be an almost complete walk-on group next year. Amazingly, they have two high school SF’s on their watch list who are ranked as the 8th and 15th best players in the nation. Both are great scorers and rebounders and both have very low SAT scores, but high enough to qualify at CSU Bakersfield. They need to be going after those two guys fervently, but don’t seem to be doing so. Unfortunately the SAT qualifications at New Hampshire are too high for us to go after them, or I would be zeroing in on them.

[PointGuard]

Game #22: Feb. 2, 2019; New Hampshire Wildcats (14-7, 7-3) at Maine Black Bears (10-10, 4-5)

Maine’s SG Reggie Howard is the guy we need to stop. He’s scoring 17.5 ppg and hits a high percentage of his shots, including those from 3-point range.

Maine maintained a small lead throughout most of the 1st half, then hit 3 straight 3’s to open a double digit lead late in the half. We hit 52% of our shots but let the Black Bears hit 54% of theirs (including 50% of their 3’s) plus the refs tagged us with 13 fouls giving Maine 10 more trips to the line (and 6 more points) than us. We left the court trailing 43-35. Vernard Strickland’s 12 points led us offensively.

In the first part of the 2nd half, each time we’d cut their lead to 2 or 3 points, Maine would pull away again as their fans implored to play tough. With 10-1/2 minutes left in the game, we drew within 3 points at 54-51 only to have Bobby Havens foul out. Two minutes later we trailed by 10. We whittled down their lead to 3 again, but for 3 straight minutes the Black Bears’ lead modulated back and forth between 3 and 5 points.

Trailing 70-66 with 1-1/2 minutes to play, we called a time out to set up an isolation play which worked beautifully with Adrian Beck scoring inside to pull us within 2 points. Reggie Howard’s 3 clanged off the rim for Maine and we rebounded. We again called a time out with 56 seconds left. Vernard Strickland got the ball and cut, but his 12 footer rolled out, and Maine rebounded but tossed the ball away with 45 seconds remaining. We called yet another time out. This time Vernard Strickland got free and drained a 14-footer to tie the game.

With 32 seconds left, we needed to stop Maine but not foul them. Maine’s baseline shot missed. But after rebounding we threw the ball away with 15 ticks left on the clock. This set Maine up for a final shot at the win. Again, it was another must stop situation for us.

As Maine worked the ball inside, Nate Augustus darted inside, knocked the ball loose and picked it up on the dribble. He cut around Luis Smith at the top of Maine’s key forcing his defender to swing to the other side of Smith which gave Augustus a step lead. He streaked across the mid court line, and pushed up a running shot from near the half court line. There was an audible intake of breath from all the Maine fans as the ball left his hands and then absolute quiet. The ball had absolutely no arc on it, but grazed the front rim, bounced against the glass and rebounded back to bounce back against the front rim, and then rise and gloriously drop down through the hoop as the buzzer broke the quiet. Maine’s fans let out an anguished “ohhhhhhh” as the ball slid down through the net, while our team went into a wild celebration in the middle of the court.

Final Score: New Hampshire-73, Maine-70. New Hampshire season record: 15-7; American East record: 8-3 (2nd place).

Scoring leaders: Strickland-24, Beck-14, Augustus-10.

Rebound leaders: Beck-8, Strickland-6.

Assist leaders: Strickland-3.

Player of the Game: PG Vernard Strickland-24 pts, 6 reb, 3 assists.

Coach’s Pat on the Back Award: PG Nate Augustus-10 pts, 2 reb, 2 assists, 1 steal, 1 block (and the game winning steal and 3).

Other notes: Team stats were as close as the game. We hit 48% of our shots, Maine hit 49% of theirs. We held a 29-27 advantage on the boards and an 18-16 turnover advantage.

After leading only once in the game at 1-0, we remained close throughout most of the game but could never overtake the Black Bears. We came back from 3 double-digit deficits (one of those after our star player fouled out) to a deficit that gave us a slim chance to win at the end of the game. Then we scored the final 7 points of the game in the last 90 seconds (including a last-second desperation 3) to pull off a huge come-back.

[JMD]

What a comeback victory. Reminds me of how I beat Kentucky in the NCCU dynasty.

[PointGuard]

Yeah, love those close games that can go either way at the end.