After suffering a conference loss at home on Friday evening that the Tigers felt they could have won, they channeled that frustration in a positive direction on Tuesday shooting lights out in the first quarter on their way to a 20-point lead over fellow district opponent and host, Pleasant Hill.
Pleasant Hill would get the ball first off the jump, but the Nevada defense would force a turnover and an assist from Brice Budd to Jack Cheaney would be the first of seven 3-pointers made in the 1st quarter alone. Nevada’s defense turned Pleasant Hill over multiple times leading to buckets. Kellen Braden took advantage of a broadcasted pass and tipped the ball toward his basket and ran it in for a lay-up. Riddick Shook would hit a 3-pointer on Nevada’s next possession, followed by Brice Budd hitting his first of three for the period putting Nevada up 11-0 before Pleasant Hill would get their first bucket on a long 2 with just under 4:30 to go in the frame. Budd would hit another 3, and then Uche Mba would tip the ball out from a pass intended to the Roosters’ high post that would find Jack Cheaney for the runout and lay-up on the other end. Pleasant Hill would get an offensive rebound and putback, and then Uche Mba answered with the exact same equation for the Tigers. A Pleasant Hill cut to the bucket would give them their third and final bucket for the quarter, while Gabe Smith would hit two 3’s to add to the Tiger total, and the first quarter ended with the Tigers dominating 27-6. Four of the five Nevada Tigers would connect from the 3-point line this quarter, with all five getting a bucket to fall in the balanced and aggressive attack.
Gabe Smith would start the 2nd quarter in the same fashion he ended the 1st with a swish from beyond the arc, but then Pleasant Hill would begin to find their footing a little bit getting a lay-up, defensive stop, and 3-pointer. Two Brice Budd free throws would put the Tigers up 32-21. The Tigers would hold the Roosters from scoring on their next possession and would use an inbound play to find Jack Cheaney for the basket. Each team would trade 2’s before Pleasant Hill would hit a deep 3-pointer and try to build some momentum of their own as the Tigers began to take their foot off the pedal a little bit by not finishing out on rebounds or getting shots to fall. Brice Budd would step up and get the Tigers back on track by knocking down the Pleasant Hill outlet pass and taking the ball in for an uncontested lay-up. A Nevada turnover on the next possession would turn into a Pleasant Hill offensive rebound and putback with just under a minute to go in the half. Riddick Shook would then find Alex Ast on the block for a high bank shot to answer. The Roosters would get one more shot to fall and Budd would finish off the quarter by driving to the basket and drawing contact from the defender and then hit 1 of 2 from the free throw line giving the Tigers a lead of 41-23 going into the locker room.
The 3rd quarter would start with both teams coming up empty on their opening possessions before Pleasant Hill would hit two 3-pointers on back-to-back times down the court and also holding the Tigers from finding the basket. This would get them within 12 after being down by as many as 23, but it would never get any closer than that. A Brice Budd assist to Riddick Shook for the corner 3-pointer would get the Tigers rolling before Gabe Smith would walk down a defender and bank a shot in from inside the paint. Nevada continued to hound Pleasant Hill on the defensive end creating multiple steals and defensive stops as they tried to work the ball inside. Brice Budd would drive in for 2 for the Tigers and then get a steal on the other end but would be fouled by the Roosters before being able to get into open court and score the lay-up. Pleasant Hill would get a defensive stop on their next opportunity and hit a tough drive to the bucket. Kellen Braden would answer for the Tigers by finding Uche Mba under the bucket for the lay-in and put the Tigers back up by 18 at 50-32 with 3:07 remaining in the quarter. The high-intensity Nevada press would turn Pleasant Hill over leading to scores by Jack Cheaney and Alex Ast. Another defensive stop in the halfcourt and Brice Budd rebound would set things up for the Tigers on their end and Uche Mba would find an open Mason Majors at the top of the key for a wide-open 3-pointer with under 10 seconds to go in the quarter and would increase the Tiger lead to 60-37.
Nevada would cool off in the 4th as many of their starters would find some rest on the bench, but the Roosters would show that they have the ability to shoot and add up some points quickly. While Nevada’s Alex Ast would start the quarter’s scoring with a steal and lay-up the Roosters would answer by hitting multiple 3-pointers in the final frame before the Tigers would begin to spread out their offense and work some time off of the clock. Riddick Shook would make a nice drive to the bucket and finish for 2, while fellow senior Brice Budd would get a steal and take the ball to the basket getting hammered by the Rooster defender. Budd would go 1 of 2 from the line before he would go to the bench for the final time and be replaced by senior Derek Hoffman. Hoffman would make a nice assist to Sean Simmons under the basket on the Tigers' next possession and would get a shot up in which the Tiger bench and fans were ready to come out of their seats, but couldn’t get the friendly roll. Pleasant Hill would hit 2 free throws with just under a second remaining in the game for the final score of 69-49.
The Tigers were led by Brice Budd’s 17 points for a very balanced attack with Jack Cheaney and Gabe Smith each having 11, Riddick Shook and Alex Ast each with 8, Uche Mba with 7, Mason Majors with 3 and Kellen Braden and Sean Simmons with 2 apiece. Nevada hit 10 3-pointers on the night, with 7 of those coming in the 1st quarter, taking the air out of the Roosters in a hurry and making them fight an uphill battle the entire night.
Head Coach Shaun Gray had some positive things to add after the game. “Our guys came out with a lot of energy at both ends of the floor. We made a ton of 3’s in the first quarter headlined by Brice Budd’s 3 treys, but most impressively we held the Roosters to 6 first-quarter points. That defense was keyed by not allowing Pleasant Hill’s sharpshooter Wesley Irwin any clean looks. It was nice to see 9 guys in the scoring column, our depth is something we want to continue to build going into the home stretch.” As with any game there are always places you can look to improve and Coach Gray felt that “We had a letdown in the 2nd. We lost assignments defensively and Pleasant Hill was able to get 17 points in that frame. That defensive effort isn’t good enough and one we will learn from and clean up.”
The Tigers will head southbound on Friday to take on the Mustangs of McDonald County in a boy-girl doubleheader. While the boys won’t be playing for a conference championship, anytime the Tigers and Mustangs meet up is always a competitive match-up and electric environment.
コメント