Junior guard Matt Green (Richmond, VA/Thomas Dale) hit all four of his three pointers in the final 7:39 of action, while senior guard Matt Guill (Emmaus, PA, Emmaus) also connected on a trifecta to help the Tigers come back from a 54-46 deficit midway through the second half. Green’s first three cut the Springfield lead to five (54-49), his second three cut the lead to two (60-58), and his third gave the Tigers the lead (63-60) with 3:16 to play. Green and Guill then both connected on three’s in the final 1:15 to put the game away as the Tigers held on for their second win of the year.
The two teams battled to a 30-30 tie in the first half as the Tigers were led by sophomore guard/forward Tyler Murray (Atlanta, GA/Harrison) who scored ten of his career-high 12 points in the stanza. Mike DeCesar led the way for the Pride with eight first-half points while Springfield won the battle on the boards, 21-12.
In the second half, the Tigers pulled out to a four-point lead, 42-38, on a three-pointer by Mike Edwards (Richmond, VA/Steward School) at the 14:47 mark, but a layup by Springfield’s Derek Yvon started a 14-4 Pride run that ended with an eight point advantage, 54-46, with just over nine minutes left to play.
Sophomore forward Troy Kaase (Roanoke, VA/Cave Spring) scored a team-high 15 points to lead five Tigers in double-figures in scoring. Mike Edwards finished with 13, while Tyler Murray, Matt Green and Matt Guill each finished with 12 points. Meanwhile, the Tigers recorded 13 steals for the game, led by Murray who finished with a career-high five. Hampden-Sydney shot 44 percent (24-of-55) from the floor, 42 percent (8-of-19) from beyond the arc and knocked down 17-of-22 (77%) from the foul line, while committing 16 turnovers and being out-rebounded, 37-28.
Derek Yvon scored a game-high 19 points, on 6-of-17 shooting, to lead the Pride, while Jamaal Gibbs finished with 14, Damian Farley 11 and Mike DeCesar ten. The Pride shot 45 percent (24-of-53) from the floor, 36 percent (5-of-14) from three-point range and made 17-of-23 (74%) from the free throw line while committing 21 turnovers.
Troy Kaase and Mike Edwards each earned All-Classic honors as Kaase averaged 20.5 points and seven rebounds in two games, while Edwards averaged 13.5 points-per-game.
Hampden-Sydney returns to action next Sunday, November 27, as the team travels to Ferrum, VA, to take on Ferrum College at 2 pm. The game will be broadcast live on FM 95.7 WFLO and on the internet at www.hsc.edu/athletics.