Kaase paced the hot-shooting Tigers (9-0) by hitting on 12-of-16 from the floor en route to scoring 26 points for the third time in nine games this year. Meanwhile he also led all players with eight rebounds as the Tigers held a slight, 36-34, advantage on the boards. Junior Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward School) and sophomore Drew Prehmus (Atlanta, GA/Wesleyan School) added 17 and 12 respectively to give the Tigers three players in double-figures in scoring.
Hampden-Sydney led by as much as 17 (42-25) in the opening half of play as Kaase and Edwards each scored 12 points. The Tigers opened the second half on an 8-2 run to push their 12 point halftime lead to 20 points, 52-32, on a Drew Prehmus three pointer with 17:51 to play. Wheaton responded with a 12-2 run over a three minute stretch midway through the half that cut the Tiger lead to nine, 66-57, on a Kristopher Pedra layup.
However, the Tigers quickly pushed the lead back to double digits on a Kaase layup with 6:29 to play and never looked back, sinking 8-of-10 from the foul line over the final 1:48 to seal the game. Lyons’ forward Brian Zukowski led his team with 19 points and six rebounds, while Pedra finished with 14 points. Meanwhile, Lyons point guard Sean Kelly finished with nine points, six rebounds and seven assists.
In the consolation game Neumann College held off a late rally by SUNY Old Westbury (5-4) to score a 64-62 victory and improve to 4-7 overall on the year. Neumann led by as much as 13 (50-37) in the second half, but Old Westbury rallied to take the lead, 62-61, on Michael Garrett’s layup with 2:08 to play. Neumann’s Andre Wright then connected on a pair of free throws to give the Knights the lead, 63-62, while James Swigget sealed the game with a final free throw with just four seconds to play.
Andre Wright led the Lyons with 14 points, while Mike Hitchens finished with ten and Swigget eight points. Swigget led all players with nine rebounds as the Knights out-rebounded the Panthers, 37-29. Old Westbury placed four players in double figures in scoring as Ramel Phillips connected on five three pointers and finished with 15 points, while Garrett had 13 and Russell Brereton and Derek DeLoney 11 each.
Hampden-Sydney’s Troy Kaase earned tournament MVP honors and was joined on the all-tournament team by teammates Drew Prehmus and Mike Edwards, along with Wheaton’s Brian Zukowski and Sean Kelly and Neumann’s James Swigget.
The Tigers of Hampden-Sydney return to action January 7 as they travel to Bridgewater, VA, to take on Old Dominion Athletic Conference foe Bridgewater College at 5 pm. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO starting at 4:45 pm.