By: Kyle Bennett kbennett@times-news.com Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @KyleBennettCTN
KEYSER, W.Va. — In a game that featured nine ties and 14 lead changes, it was again Garrett College’s offensive rebounding that sparked the Lakers to victory, 89-73, over WVU Potomac State on Wednesday evening at Lough Gymnasium.
D’Monte Brown led the charge for the Lakers, who moved up from 11th to No. 8 in this week’s NJCAA Division II Poll on Monday. Brown came off the bench for a game-high 20 points, half of which came at the foul line, to go along with team highs in rebounds (9) and assists (4).
“They’re a good team, but they’re overachieving,” Garrett head coach Dennis Gibson humbly said of his team’s performance. “That’s what I keep telling our guys, ‘you’ve got to overachieve, because sooner or later you’re going to run into a team that’s just as good or better.’ That’s exactly what’s going on here. They’re overachieving. And that’s what you want out of your team. My hat’s off to them.”
Malik Whitaker tacked on 17 points, Davis Molloy had 15, Robel Desta 13 and Cam Selders 11.
“That’s the beauty of the team. It’s next man up,” said Gibson, “along with their willingness to do the dirty work. They came out in the second half and did the dirty work that they had to do. We didn’t play hard the first half — they outplayed us in the first half, totally. … And we shot terrible in the first half.
“In the second half, we said we were going to get offensive boards and I knew we were going to shoot better and we were going to play harder.”
Garrett opened on an 8-0 run, but the Catamounts answered with an 8-0 run as they settled in and traded punches with the Lakers throughout the opening half.
There were 10 lead changes in the first 20 minutes, with Potomac State closing the half on a pair of layups from Cavonte Duncan to give the Catamounts a 41-40 lead at the break.
“I thought we played extremely hard … probably the toughest we’ve played all season,” said Potomac State head coach Neil Epstein. “I just thought it was probably a four- or five-minute stretch where we couldn’t buy a rebound and I think that won the game. The first half, we played probably the best half we’ve played all season, against, in my opinion, one of the best junior college basketball teams in the country right now. It was a hard-fought game and I’m excited to play them two more times.”
Coming out of halftime, Duncan knocked down a layup in traffic and Noah Smith had a layup to give the Catamounts their biggest lead of the contest, 45-40, before Garrett ended the run and tied things up shortly thereafter.
“We have the depth,” said Gibson. “You take out Davis, who wasn’t shooting well, and you put in David, and he didn’t make a shot, then you put in somebody else and they make a shot. That’s just the luxury of having good players. I had to play a couple guys tonight that I didn’t expect to play. It’s frustrating for me.”
Just as the clock ticked under 10 minutes to play in the second half, Potomac State’s Joe Bokey drove the baseline from the right and found Ethan Kent in the opposite corner. Kent threw up a 3-pointer, finding nothing but net, to put the Catamounts ahead, 63-61. It was PSC's last lead.
The Lakers tied it up about 40 seconds later, with Brown grabbing a steal and running the length of the floor for a layup to tie it at 63-all.
Then, the rebounding trouble for the Catamounts began to pile up as Garrett went on a 7-0 run that started with Brown’s layup. Selders pulled down a defensive board following a missed PSC layup, resulting in a layup by Selders on the other end to give the Lakers the lead for good.
After a missed three by Potomac State, Brown hauled in the rebound and was fouled on an attempt on the other end, making both foul shots with 8:27 to play.
Desta was at the foul line over a minute later, sinking the back end try to put Garrett ahead, 68-63.
Markei Hampton had a traditional three-point play at 6:48 to get the Catamounts back to within two at 68-66, but the Lakers opened the lead back up to six with a free throw from Antonio Marr and an and-one from David Blanc.
From there, Garrett started dominating on the offensive glass and didn’t allow Potomac State to go on a run throughout the rest of the game, with the Catamounts’ next basket being answered by offensive rebound putbacks by Selders and Brown to make it 76-68.
A layup by Hampton was responded by Brown with a free throw and a right corner jumper from Whitaker.
Duncan made a foul shot with 2:11 to play to get PSC within eight at 79-71, but Garrett scored 10 of the contest’s final 12 points to move to 10-0 on the year.
From the time Brown tied the game at 63-63 at 9:21 to Brown’s free throw at 3:48 to go ahead 77-70, the Lakers grabbed 11 of the game’s next 12 boards and they outrebounded Potomac State 15-6 over the final 9:21.
The Catamounts were hamstrung over the final 10 minutes, as Bokey, one of the PSC’s bigs, found himself in foul trouble — he picked up his fourth at 6:21 and fouled out with 1:25 to play — and Smith, Potomac State’s other standout big, was limited down the stretch due to recurring cramps.
“Those are two of our best players and rebounders,” said Epstein. “I told Noah after the game, ‘I think that game is probably a lot closer if you didn’t cramp up.’ I couldn’t be more proud of the way we fought and how hard we played. … A couple plays go our way, we’re probably having a different tune in the locker room.”
Smith left the game at 12:27 when the cramps first started, with PSC down four, 56-52. He re-entered with 8:35 to play, but had to be subbed 32 seconds later.
“They did what they had to do,” Gibson said of his team. “If their big kid hadn’t got hurt, I think it would’ve been a different second half. But that’s the game. I tell these guys, ‘you go on the road, it’s a whole different life.’”
Smith led the Catamounts, tallying a double-double in just 25 minutes of action with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Bokey, who also was limited to 25 minutes, had six points.
It was a balanced scoring attack for PSC, with Duncan matching Smith’s 16 points, while Hampton had 13, and Kent and Thaddeus Jordan added eight apiece.
“We preach all the time ball movement and great shot over good shot and make the extra pass,” Epstein said. “They couldn’t have done that more to a T tonight.”
The Catamounts (6-4) play at Hocking College on Saturday. Garrett travels to Penn Highlands on Friday.