Second Half Run Pushes Pine Manor Past Bobcats

CHESTNUT HILL, MA -- Sayvonne Houston scored 16 points and grabbed 12 rebounds to propel the Pine Manor Gators (7-13) past the Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo Bobcats (13-7) on Friday night with a final score 86-76.

After a week of delays and inclement weather warnings that led to game cancellations and re-scheduling, the Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo Bobcats hit the road once again, driving seven hours into the affluent neighborhoods that surround Chestnut Hill, a stone's throw from Boston, MA, to play former ACAA Mens Basketball Champions, the Pine Manor Gators.

From the tip off, the Bobcats started out by opening a sizable lead. Behind the sharp shooting of Damone Brown Jr. and Daquan Walker, Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo got off to a hot start, and appeared to be pulling away, extending their lead by as much as 10 points in the first five minutes of the first half. Brown poured in 11 points and Walker 6 points in the first twenty minutes of play as the Bobcats shot a blistering 52.9% from the three point line.

However, the Pine Manor Gators weren't laying down on their home floor. Jaylen Bruce and Sayvonne Houston kept their team in the game. Bruce did it by connecting from deep with a long three point bomb and then getting to the free throw line on his way to 9 first-half points, while Houston banged and bruised the Bobcat big men, dropping 8 points of his own in the paint. Quiet but steady was also the point guard play of Steven Collins who directed the Pine Manor offense; Collins finished the first half with 5 assists and 2 steals.

After a tough first fifteen minutes, the Gators had slowly closed the gap and went into the locker room at the buzzer only down one point, 43-42.

In the second half, Pine Manor continued their well-orchestrated attack. After Houston successfully left every inside player on the Bobcat roster with at least two fouls in the first twenty minutes of play, he went back to work. Though Houston shot 4-8 from the free throw line with an awkawrd and cringe-worthy wind-up free throw, it goes without saying that he had to make it to the line by getting fouled. After foul trouble left Jordan Street and Jeru Molson with less of an opportunity to get physical (Molson fouled out with 5 personal fouls and Street barely made it to the buzzer with 4 personal fouls of his own), Houston spent the rest of the second half grabbing 10 of his 12 rebounds and scoring half of his 16 total points, finishing with a double-double on the night.

When Houston wasn't punishing the Bobcat big men, Steven Collins was filling up the stat sheet, being more aggressive on the offensive end. Collins scored 9 of his 11 points in the second half to add to his 7 assists and 4 steals on the night.

Meanwhile, for Bryant & Stratton College - Buffalo, the only saving grace seemed to be Brown Jr. and Walker's shooting from the outside. The two guards continued to knock down big shots. Brown, in one of his best performances of the season, lined up a couple of long three pointers that broke the momentum in crucial parts of the game. As Pine Manor sat back in a 1-3-1 zone, Walker also moved without the ball to find open areas to spot up. Walker finished with 11 points.

The two usual candidates for high-scoring honors, senior guard, Nicc Johnson, and sophomore guard/forward, Tyrell Mitchell, were relatively contained by the Gator defense. Both players, scoring almost 18 points a game, finished with 12 and 14 points, despite a rather thunderous Mitchell dunk that came off a well executed play and perfectly thrown lob pass from Kevin Ford.

Still, after shooting 34.4% from the field and 27.8% from the three point line, somehow the Bobcats were within 5 points of the Gators with one minute left in the game. However, with time running out, the Bobcats had to begin fouling to stop the clock. With several free throw opportunties, Pine Manor capitalized and extended their lead to 10 points before the final buzzer sounded.

NEXT GAME 

Continuing their road trip, Saturday, February 2nd, the Bobcats drive to Poultney, Vermont, taking on Green Mountain College at The Eagle Dome. Tip off is at 3pm!

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