Basketball Spotlight:
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
By Bob Heller The USP men’s basketball team put five players in double figures and limited Goldey Beacom College to just five second half field goals as they defeated the Lightning, 69-58 this evening at the Bobby Morgan Arena. Chris Brattelli (Sr., Highland Regional HS/Clementon, NJ) led all scorers with 18 points. Eric Cangelosi (So., Camden Catholic HS/ Haddon Heights, NJ) and Collin Harrington (So., Bishop Eustace HS/Sewell, NJ) each chipped in 12 while Chris Dougherty (Sr., Haverford HS/Haverford, PA) and Pete Adams (Sr., Camden Catholic HS/Marlton, NJ) added 11 and 10 points respectively. Jeremy Jeanne paced the Lightning with 14 points. Cangelosi also led the Devils with eight rebounds and four assists. The Devils fell behind early and trailed by seven, 16-9 until an 11-0 run midway through the first half gave USP their first lead of the game. Brattelli started things off with a layup and Howard Lanier (Fr., St. Augustine Prep/Sicklerville, NJ) nailed a three-point field goal to pull USP within two 16-14. Brattelli added a three-point play and Dougherty made one of two free throws before Lanier ended the run with a short baseline jumper making the score 20-16 with 9:11 left. Goldey Beacom then went on a 7-2 run to take a five point lead 27-22 with 4:15 left. Adams then sank three point field goals on two straight USP possession as the Devils regained the lead 28-27 with 3:04 left. Jeanne countered with a '3-ball' of his own to swing the lead back the other way, 30-27 before Dougherty reversed the pendulum again with four straight free throws to make the score 32-30. Derek Savage (10 points) tied the game at 32-32 with just two seconds left. Dougherty then tossed a wild shot at the basket as the buzzer sounded. It went high off the glass and in and USP held a 34-32 lead at the break. USP opened the second half with an 8-2 run to boost their lead to eight, 42-34 before the Lightning countered with a 7-1 run off their own to cut the margin to two, 43-41 at the 12:06 mark. A 9-3 run by USP boosted the margin back up to eight, 52-44 with 6:37 left. Harrington started the run with a layup, Brattelli added two free throws and then another Harrington basket made the score 49-42. Nate Lewis than sank a 10 foot fadeaway shot in the paint to make the score 49-44. This would be the Lightning's last field goal until the final minute of play. Dougherty scored the final three points of the run to give the Devils an eight-point lead. The Lightning again cut the lead back down to two, 52-50, this time from the foul line with six straight free throws. Brattelli completed another three-point play to make the score 55-50 with 4:05 left. USP held the Lighting to just one field goal over the final four minutes, outscoring their opponent 14-8 to make the final score 69-58. Goldey Beacom made just five of 20 shots in the second half (25%) and finished the game shooting 39.5%( 17-43). The Devils made 12 of 26 shots in the second half and finished the game shooting 43.1%(22-51). USP was 22-29 (75.9%) from the line while the Lighting made 19 of 22 free throws (86.4%) USP held the advantage on the boards 34-28 and committed just nine turnovers (three in the second half) to Goldey's 14. USP improves to 10-13 overall and 9-8 in league play. The Lightning drop to 4-19 overall and 3-13 in league play. A non-conference game against Millersville University is on the horizon for the Devils on Thursday, February 17, 2005. |