Hampden-Sydney freshman forward Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) recorded his second-straight double-double with 16 points and ten rebounds to lead the Tigers. Sophomore guard Kevin Forrester (Wytheville, VA/George Wythe) added 14 points, while junior guard Matt Guill (Emmaus, PA/Emmaus) scored 11 points to go with a game-high five assists. Kaase was helped on the boards by junior center Aaron Lewek (Raleigh, NC/Leesville Road) who also grabbed ten caroms as Hampden-Sydney out-rebounded the Wasps, 51-31.
The Tigers led by one, 36-35, at the break, but never trailed in the second half. Hampden-Sydney led by as much as seven points, 54-47, with 12:54 to play after a pair of Kaase free throws, but the Wasps used an 8-2 run to cut the Tiger lead to one, 56-55, on a Davon Jones layup with 9:21 remaining.
The Tigers pushed their advantage back to six points, 63-57, on a Kaase layup, but again the Wasps rallied to cut the lead to one point, 64-63, on a Lance Reasbeck running floater at the 6:06 mark. The Tiger defense held Emory and Henry scoreless for the next 5:40 of the contest as the team built an 11-point advantage, 74-63, before finally allowing the Wasps final bucket of the game on a Hank Luton jumper with 26 seconds to play.
Luton led Emory and Henry with 17 points, while Lance Reasbeck and Davon Jones each scored ten points. Emory and Henry’s Will Schwartzstein tallied a team-high eight rebounds.
Hampden-Sydney shot just 38 percent (22-for-58) from the floor, but made 12-of-24 (50%) attempts in the second half and canned 26-of-34 (77%) free throws. Meanwhile, the Wasps connected on 42 percent (27-for-65) of their shots, but made just 3-of-20 (20%) from beyond the arc, while making 8-of-12 (67%) from the line.
Hampden-Sydney, which moved to three games over .500 for the first time this season, returns to play Wednesday, January 26, as the team hosts Guilford College at 7 pm. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.