Going into the game, the men's team expected to come out
strong and stay that way. The first half opened with an
offensive blitz by the Bison, as they shot out to an 11-0 initial
lead before Christendom announced its presence with a trey. An
up-tempo defensive approach helped the Gallaudet ballers pick off
some turnovers from Christendom, and a strong lead was staked out
for the remainder of the half.
The combo of
Onye Davis and
Sekoe White, down low under the basket and from
downtown, was responsible for the Bison explosive beginning,
combining for 16 points in the first half.
David Farias added to
the hot opening from the perimeter with two 3-pointers. Christendom
countered the stellar Bison opening in the first half with a steady
and unflashy comeback, keyed by Marion Miner's shooting.
However, the half ended with the Bison in the lead,
27–19.
Coming out of the half, both teams started off slow, but then the
Crusaders put up a small scoring spurt.
Jon Mowl woke the team up
with a frantic effort to create some scoring, spinning moves in the
paint along with deft passes. However, it would be the
White/Davis duo who would steal the show with a strong combo
performance, punctuated by a hard dunk from White. During the Bison
offensive push, the Crusaders succumbed to frustrations, as they
searched in vain for a long scoring jaunt that would allow them to
take the game away from the Bison.
As the game
progressed, the
Chris Khanoyan Fan Club called out from the stands,
pleading for Coach Jimmy DeStefano to put him in. Khanoyan appeared
for a minute, and then went back to the bench. His fans continued
to call for his return. The Gallaudet ballers began to pull away
with 9 minutes left in the game, and the scoring of Christendom
began to slow.
With about three minutes left in the game, the Khanoyan fan
club got their wish realized as DeStefano, heeding their constant
calls, inserted Khanoyan for Mowl. Khanoyan would almost
immediately notch a 3-4 night at the charity stripe, pleasing the
fans to no end, as the Bison closed strong. White notched 16 points
for the night, to go with a game-high 17 rebounds. Davis would
complement his scoring partner's performance with another
double-double, 11 points and 10 rebounds. Tonight's win
also marks the first time this season the entire Bison lineup,
including bench players, contributed to the scoring efforts.
Next up for the Bison (4-14, 1-8 CAC) is another home game
against the York College Spartans (12-7, 6-4 CAC) in conference
play. Tip time is at 8 p.m.
Earl Mikell, Contributing
Writer
