Jan. 13, 2007

Box Score

On January 13 at 1:00 Neumann College (6-7, 3-3) hosted Gwynedd Mercy College (7-6, 5-1) in a Pennsylvania Athletic Conference game in the Bruder Gymnasium in Aston, Pa.

In the opening 2:00 of the game nobody scored, but the Knights showed good ball movement trying to find the open seam. Neumann had good defense, but seemed to leave open areas on the court for the Griffins to take advantage of in the beginning of the game.

The entire first half was a battle in this Conference bout between the Griffins and the Knights. Neumann was showing great play on both sides of the court keeping the Griffins off balance with good ball movement and good defense.

Ronnie Fields came up with a big steal on defense and dumped the ball off to Mike Hitchens who made a field goal and was fouled to take the lead by 2 with 8:25 left on the clock.

With 5:24 left on the clock a loose ball on the floor on the Griffins side of the court brought the games intensity up in the last minutes of the half. James Swiggett drove hard to the net scoring a field goal giving the Knights a two point lead. After the Griffins in bounded the ball after, Ronnie Fields came up big with a blocked shot and dumped the ball off to DJ Fritz who made a nice jump shot to give the Knights the lead by 4.

With 1:00 left on the clock Gwynedd Mercy came back to tie the game only to fall behind again on a big 3-pointer made by Ronnie Fields with: 45 left, ending the half 31-28 Knights.

In the beginning of the second half Gwynedd Mercy showed good ball movement making key shots to take the lead away from Neumann. However, the Knights came back fighting, keeping the game close with good shooting from Ronnie Fields (17 points) and Derahn Patrick (14 points, 5 assists) who teamed up for back to back 3-pointers twice to give the Knights the lead.

During the course of the game the Knights lost the lead several times to costly fouls, but they fought hard to stay in the game. The Griffins took advantage of all their opportunities, especially with 8:05 left on the clock when the Knights received a costly foul to give the Griffins the lead 53-51 which would be the turning point of the game.

The Knights stayed with the Griffins throughout the second half, however, Neumann was unable to make key free throws towards the end of the game, as Gwynedd Mercy held on to their lead. The Knights fell in a heart-breaking loss 71-67. They take the court next on Thursday January 18 in Aston, Pa when they host Alvernia at 8:00.