With the win, Springfield raises its record to 3-7, while Colby-Sawyer falls to 4-4. Springfield has now won 2 straight, following its 1-7 start. Springfield will take on Bates College tomorrow (Jan. 2) at 7:30 pm in the tourney’s championship contest. Trinity (TX) will take on Colby-Sawyer tomorrow at 3 pm in the consolation.
Tonight’s win represents #350 in Charlie Brock’s career. He is now 350-312 (for a .529 winning percentage) in this his 26th year as a head coach at three different colleges. It is his 8th season at Springfield College.
Yvon, a senior guard from East Longmeadow, Mass., led all Springfield scorers with 24 points. He also had 5 rebounds, 5 steals, and 4 assists. Behind him were junior forward Damian Farley (Natick, Mass./Natick HS) with 16 (and 5 rebounds), senior forward Brian Riley (Worcester, Mass./St. Mary’s) with 14 points (and 9 rebounds), and senior forward Joel Aponte (Windsor, Conn./Windsor HS) with 11 points (and 8 rebounds). Sophomore forward Gregg Daly (Farmington, Conn./Farmington HS) scored all 9 of his points in the first half.
In addition, junior point guard Anthony Pizzo (Clifton Park, N.Y./Shenendehowa HS) dished out 10 assists, a Holiday Inn-Naismith Classic record for most assists in a single game. The previous record of 9, done 5 times, was most recently accomplished by Donta Johnson of Springfield versus Hobart on Jan. 4, 1997. This is the 19th year of the Holiday Inn-Naismith Classic.
For Colby-Sawyer, senior center Andrew St. Clair (Pittsfield, Maine/Maine Central) led the Chargers with 18 points (along with a team-high 6 rebounds). The only other double-figure scorer for Colby-Sawyer was junior guard Pat Kenny (Wethersfield, Conn./East Catholic HS) with 13 points. Senior guard Collin Bray (Brookline, Mass./New Hampton Prep) was credited with 8 assists.
There were two ties in this game at 2-all and 4-all. Springfield never trailed. The Pride took a 25-8 lead just 9:12 into the game. It was 44-31, Springfield, at the half. In the second half, the lead never got below double digits. Colby-Sawyer did cut the margin to 10 (54-44) with 14:45 to go on a 3-pointer by freshman forward Andrew Cousins (Portland, Maine/South Portland HS). But Springfield scored the next eight points and was never headed. The largest margin was 23 on two occasions – with 4:05 left (84-61) and with 2:13 left (86-63).
Springfield shot .478 for the game (33-of-69). Colby-Sawyer shot .441 (26-of-59). The Pride outrebounded the Chargers, 41-38. SC turned it over just 12 times, while Colby-Sawyer turned it over 19 times.