<< BackMariners Win Holiday Tournament
Mariners Hold Off Hobart Attack For 83-79 Overtime Victory
It took an 83-79 overtime victory over Hobart College for the U.S. Merchant Marine Academy men’s basketball team to win its second straight Kings Point Alumni Holiday Tournament.
Ryan Samuel led the way for the Mariners as he was named tournament MVP. Jon Snead also had a big game for the Mariners and was named to the All-Tournament team. The Mariners took advantage of the Statesmen turnovers as they recorded 27 points off 18 turnovers. USMMA has now won six straight games on the season and are off to their best start in the first 11 games since the 2001-2002 season when that team started 9-2.
The Mariners record improves to 9-2 overall while the Statesmen fall to 5-4 overall.
Samuel finished with a team-high 21 points, six assists and four steals for the Mariners. Snead pitched in with 16 points and seven rebounds on the day. Tom Izzo helped out the Mariners 14 points, two rebounds and two assists. Matt Hueber added 11 points and five rebounds while Kevin Kerr netted 11 points.
Hobart was led by Stepfan Thompson’s game-high 26 points and five assists. Matt Pebole posted 17 points and five rebounds on the day. Tim Llewellyn netted 17 points and two assists while Rezin Davis added seven points.
Pebole started the game off with a jumper on a pass from Mark Bruce. Samuel answered for the Mariners with a three-pointer. The Statesmen would set in back-to-back layups to take a 6-3 lead on the Mariners but Snead sank a three-pointer to tie it at 6-6. On the next possession Hobart took the lead on a three-pointer by Thompson. The Statesmen kept the lead until the 12:46 mark when Hueber put the Mariners up 16-15 with a jumper. Over the course of the rest of the half, USMMA would gradually build on its lead and take a 10 point lead with 3:36 left on two foul shots by Samuel, 36-26. With less than two minutes left in the half, Kerr would hit a three-pointer and Samuel would set in a layup to put the Mariners on top, 41-28. Thompson hit two foul shots with nine seconds left in the first half to make it a 41-30 Mariners lead at the break.
Once again the Statesmen started the half with the first basket as Llewellyn knocked down a jumper. The Mariners seemed to be on cruise control as they maintained a double-digit lead and taking an 18 point lead, 60-42 on a jumper by Hueber with 12:47 to go in the game. USMMA continued to keep at least a 13 point lead until the 7:22 mark when Pebole sank a jumper to make it 66-55. Llewellyn followed for the Statesmen with a three-pointer to pull the team within eight points, 66-58. Hobart fought hard and battled back against the Mariners as Thompson tie things up, 69-69 with a layup and 2:00 left in the game. Samuel responded for the Mariners with a three-pointer on their next possession. Thompson took over the end of the second half for the Statesmen as he set in a layup to pull within one point, 72-71. Hobart then fouled Snead and he was only able to hit one foul shot. With 14 seconds left in the game, Hueber fouled Thompson who knocked down both of his foul shots to tie the game and send it into overtime.
In the overtime period, the Statesmen struck first with two more Thompson foul shots. The Mariners came right back as Anthony Jones pulled down an offensive rebound and then sank two foul shots. On the next Hobart possession, Llewellyn hit a jumper to put them back on top, 77-75. Once again the Mariners responded and Izzo set in a reverse layup to tie it back up. After Llewellyn missed a three-pointer, Izzo came down and put the Mariners on top for the first time in overtime with two foul shots. With a Thompson turnover on the Statesmen next possession, the Mariners took advantage and Kerr put USMMA up four points, 81-77 with two more foul shots. With 18 seconds left in the game, Thompson hit two foul shots to pull back within two points. The Mariners missed two foul shots on their next possession to set up a dramatic ending. With three seconds left on the clock, the Mariners forced another Statesmen turnover as they would go on to the 83-79 victory.
The Mariners finished the day shooting 56.3 percent from behind the arc (9-16) and 55.1 percent from the field (27-49). USMMA was able to outscore the Statesmen in points in the paint, 30-20.
The Mariners return to action on Friday, January 8th when they host Moravian College for their first Landmark Conference weekend. Game time is slated for 7:30 pm.