On Saturday, February 3, your Mount St. Joseph University Men's Basketball program traveled on the road to Earlham College to take on the Quakers. The Quakers would jump out to a nine-point lead in the later going of the 1
st half. The Lions would continue to fight as they would force it to a tie game with one minute remaining but the Quakers would find a way in the end to hold off the Lions by the score of 60-62.
In the first half, the two evenly matched teams would trade baskets.
Dylan Hammonds would keep the Lions in the matchup as he poured in 9 straight points to grab a one-point lead with 10 minutes remaining. Earlham would then go on a run over their own building their lead to nine on a 17-8 run before the Lions slowly clawed back with the time ticking down as the two teams went into the half with Earlham leading the Lions 35-31.
The second half was started off with another big Quakers run as they would grow their lead to 13 within the first 5 minutes of the half. The game would then go back in forth as the Lions were unable to cut into the deficit. With the score sitting in favor of the Quakers,
Luke Collinsworth was able to snag an offensive rebound and earn a foul to start a run for the Lions. Connecting on only one of two, Hammonds and
Jason Lavender would each add a pair of layups including a free throw for Hammonds to cut the lead to 3 with 5 minutes remaining. While the Lions would stiffen on defense, they would take advantage of their size by earning three straight trips to the free throw line and connect on 5 of the 6 to tie the ball game at 60 with a minute thirty remaining. Unable to score on their final two possessions would be the difference late as the Quakers scored with 18 seconds remaining as the Lions would drop a heart breaker 60-62
Freshman
Dylan Hammonds led the way for the Lions with an impressive 19-point, 13 rebound double-double while shooting over 50% from the floor and 88% from the free throw line.
Luke Collinsworth and
Matthew Menninger would also score double-digits with a respectable 12- and 11-point outing. Off the bench, Freshman
Jason Lavender provided the Lions with very quality minutes by shooting 4-9 from the floor for 8 points while snagging two big offensive rebounds to keep possession alive for the Lions.
UP NEXT: The Lions will continue their road trip on Wednesday, February 7
th as they travel to Defiance to take on the Yellow Jackets. Tip off is scheduled for 7:30.
