FREDERICK, Md. – The Hood College men’s basketball walked away with a nail-biting 78-75 victory against Cal Lutheran, as a final shot from Devon Lewis to force overtime fell just short at the buzzer.
Inside the Box Score
Garrison Linton (New Market, Md./Oakdale) tied his career-high point total with 21, shooting 60 percent from the field.
Jack Fricka (Alexandria, Va./West Potomac) set a career-high with 16 points, going a perfect 8-8 from the floor.
Justin Gielen (Edgewater, Md./DeMatha) ended the afternoon with 14 points, coming down with four rebounds and adding four assists.
How it Happened
Hood scored the first seven points of the game, with a three-pointer from Gielen capping off the three-minute run.
Back-to-back layups from Troy Fulton (Denver, N.C./Lincoln Charter School) and Fricka gave the Blazers a 20-11 lead with just under 10 minutes in the first half.
The Kingsmen brought their deficit down to 29-27 with seven points in 1:09 of play as a dunk from Tommy Griffitts wrapped up the run.
Soren Almquist (Oakton, Va./James Madison) and Kullen Robinson (Alexandria, Va./Alexandria City) combined for 10 points in the final five minutes to keep the Blazers ahead, but Cal Lutheran’s Stephen Davis hit a mid-range jumper at the buzzer to make it an uncomfortable 41-40 lead.
While Hood started the second half off with a layup and deep shot from Gielen and Garrett Cox (Glen Allen, VA/Glen Allen), two free throws from Patrick Renane after a technical foul from Linton allowed the Kingsmen to get within three, before a deep ball from Ze’Ev Remer tied the game at 52.
Cal Lutheran took their first lead of the afternoon after a three-pointer from Taj Regans gave them a 55-54 advantage with 13:43 left, but nine straight points from Linton swung the momentum back in favor of the Blazers.
The two teams traded baskets as time winded down, and the Kingsmen got within one point with 55 seconds left, but a layup from Fricka with 23 seconds in the half took away Cal Lutheran’s option to shoot inside the arc, and the only shot they could manage to get up was an off-balance deep ball from Lewis that went wide.
For the Opponent
Brock Susko led the Kingsmen with 14 points, four assists, and five rebounds.
Nick Attanasio finished just behind him with 13 points.
Analysis
The Blazers shot 62 percent overall, while the…
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