Jan. 11, 2007

Box Score

Aston, Pa. - On Thursday January, 11 at 8:00 the Knights (6-5, 3-1) hosted College Misericordia (4-8, 2-2) in a Pennsylvania Athletic Conference game in the Bruder Gymnasium in Aston, Pa.

 

In the beginning of the half the Knights looked a little slow on the court not getting key rebounds on offense and making a lot of fouls.  Their defense was not putting enough pressure on the Cougars fast moving offense that quickly moved ahead 16-9 the first five minutes into the game. 

 

The baskets didn't seem to fall for Neumann early on, but they soon found a rhythm and added pressure to their play bringing them to life.  Towards the end of the half the Knights picked it up by grabbing rebounds on both sides of the court and made key baskets to close the gap.       

 

In the last few minutes of the half the Knights found life and started making plays on both sides of the court, slowing down the fast moving Cougars.  The Knights were led by Mike Hitchens with 13 points and back to back 3-pointers with three minutes left to cut the Cougars lead to four.  Hitchens sunk another 3-pointer in the last 45 seconds but it was not enough to overcome a 37-34 deficit.  

 

Misericordia was lead by Marcus Little (12 points) and Vinny Baumunk (10 points) who seemed to have the magic touch hitting both attempts at 3-pointers

 

The second half of the game the Knights came out firing with a great shot made by Nasheed Linton to tie the game 46-46 four minutes in the half.  Linton, DJ Fritz, and Mike Hitchens were the key players for the Knights getting the lead early in the half. 

 

Neumann took the lead by five on two consecutive baskets and a free throw by Hitchens and field goal by Linton; however, they were not able to stop the Cougars offense as they quickly took back the lead.  Misericordia jumped to a seven point lead that Neumann was not able to come back on.  In the last minute of play the Cougars made four free throws to seal their victory. 

 

The Knights fell short even with the great playing by Mike Hitchens (18 points), DJ Fritz (15 points), and Nashedd Linton (14 points, 6 assists).  The Cougars top players were Marcus Little (20 points) and Vinny Baumunk (23 points) to bring Misericordia to 5-8 overall and 3-2 in conference play.  Neumann record is now 6-6 overall and 3-2 in the conference.

 

Neumann will be hosting Gwynedd-Mercy on January 13 at 1:00 in the Bruder Gymnasium in Aston, Pa.