After traveling for their first games of the season, men’s basketball came back to the hilltop to square off against the Rockford University Regents, and secured a 98-89 win.
St. Edward’s won the tip off, and Jamison Kay scored a reverse layup on their first possession of the game. Conor McManus blocked the Regents shot attempt, and Kay once again scored a layup, but was fouled and converted it into a 3-point play. The Regents then scored three additional 3-pointers to take the lead of the game. Lewis Rowe was then fouled on a layup, but couldn’t connect with any of his free throws.
With missed shot attempts and the Regents deflecting the ball, it took the Hilltoppers some time before being able to connect with another score. It wasn’t until McManus drained a three that the offense started picking back up. McManus then stole the ball, but missed the shot attempt; he was able to grab the rebound, but the ball was turned over.
There were several missed rebounds by the team, both on offense and defense. Latiek Briscoe hit a layup, getting St. Edward’s 12 points closer to the Regents’ 16. Sam McKinney then connected with a dunk, causing the gymnasium to erupt in cheers. Mason Courtney had a hard-fought two points earned in the paint.
Hilltoppers ran a full-court press for the game, and were able to secure many steals from their quick defense. After a steal, Briscoe made a layup, but missed the free throw for the 3-point play opportunity. Wonder Kahozi blocked a shot attempt on defense, and Briscoe hit a 3-pointer to take the lead. Luke Kiser stole the ball, and McKinney connected with another shot behind the arc.
Courtney was fouled on a 3-point attempt, and connected with two of the free throws. The ball was stolen on their press once again, and Briscoe got caught in a hard foul on his layup attempt, draining one of his two free throws. The ball was stolen twice in a row, but St. Edward’s couldn’t get shots or free throws to land to take advantage of their defensive efforts.
Kahozi tipped a Regent’s 3-point attempt, and Kiser stole the ball and took it upcourt for a fast break layup. Gavino Ramos threw a dart of a pass to Kay to grab a layup. Kay was later fouled and drained both free throws. Ramos was fouled on a layup but missed the free throw, however he was fouled again shortly after and drained both shots.
Lewis Rowe hit some moves under the basket to secure a quick two points. Ramos stole the ball once again and grabbed another layup. Rowe hit another shot in the paint, and on the next possession a left handed hook shot. As the Regent’s threes were hitting left and right, Briscoe hit another three as the clock wound down in the first half of the game. The Regents hit a Kawhi Leonard-akin 3-pointer from the corner just as the buzzer rang. St. Edward’s led the game at halftime 51-46.
At the beginning of the second half, SEU forced a turnover, and Rowe was fouled on a post attempt, and he drained both shots. McManus later grabbed a layup. St. Edward’s tipped another Regent’s 3-pointer attempt, but Rockford was able to regain control and hit another three.
The Regents started creeping up to St. Edward’s lead, but Ramos connected with a three pointer at the top of the key. Ramos then was fouled on a euro step layup, and made the free throw for a 3-point play. Courtney then hit a majorly contested 3-pointer. McKinney was fouled on a layup and made both shots.
St. Edward’s unsuccessfully attempted a lob dunk, but was able to secure a 3-point shot from Courtney. Courtney then blocked a 3-point attempt from the Regents, and Ramos blocked another shot attempt, causing the Regents’ play clock to run out of time, handing the ball over to SEU.
With only 10 minutes left on the game clock, St. Edwards had a six-point lead. Kiser was fouled and drained both attempts. Rowe grabbed a layup before Ramos was fouled and grabbed an additional two points. Rowe stole the ball and had a bounce pass to Kay for a quick score. Ramos and Rowe were fouled on back to back possessions, and each of them only made one of their two shots.
McManus stole the ball from Rockford, and Kay was fouled on his layup attempt, but missed both shots. Then both Rowe and Courtney had layups, giving SEU a three-point lead with only three minutes left on the game clock. Kay was fouled and hit both free throws. Rowe was fouled on his layup attempt and converted the free throw. Courtney then hit a corner three.
As the clock wound down, Regents kept intentionally fouling to stop time. Ramos, the point guard, was sent to the free throw line twice, and he drained all four shots, sealing the game as a win. The final score was 98-89.
St. Edward’s had 11 more turnovers than Rockford, and a significantly lower amount of second chance points off of offensive rebounds. Rockford had 24 second chance points, while St. Edward’s only had two.
“I didn’t feel we were competitive on the glass,” head coach Andre Cook said. “You got to go hit somebody. I don’t know how else, you got to go hit somebody and find somebody and want it and they just wanted it more. I know that sounds so cliché and maybe simple, but it’s hard on the glass and guys are crashing in there. If you don’t put a body on somebody, they got a clear run and they’re getting hands on basketballs and 15 extra possessions. Again (it) is a recipe for a loss, especially when we get into the league and that’s coming soon.”
Cook spoke on coming back home to the hilltop after a stretch of traveling games, and losing their captain Blake Nielsen to injury.
“It feels good to come home,” Cook said. “We’ve been on the road, I think there was a stretch where eight of 11 days we were in a hotel in Montana and then Denver. All those things sound great when you put your schedule together, and then when you really have to do it, it was a lot on the road, and we had a season ending injury to our captain while we were out there. It’s been kind of an emotional roller coaster for us.”
Ramos talked about the team’s perspective after losing Neilsen to injury.
“Losing our best player, Blake, definitely hurts, but as I said today, everybody’s stepping up,” Ramos said. “That’s what we’re going to need all year to make up for – that loss … I think everybody’s going to be a little bit more energized and upbeat. They know that their roles (are) going to increase a little bit now, losing our leading score and playmaker. That leaves room for literally everybody else to step up and pick up some slack. So yeah, excited to see everybody else and how they do.”
