To be the best, you have to beat the best!
And to beat the best in less than a 24-hour period is truly a test of one's mettle. Give the Golden Eagles a passing grade for knocking off USCAA No. 5 Cincinnati Clermont on Saturday 99-82, after defeating No. 11 Villa Maria College on Friday afternoon.
The Cougars---winners of seven straight---battled KSU Tusc through five ties and six lead changes in the opening eight minutes of the contest, before the Eagles scored six straight points to take a 24-18 lead. The inspired play of Javier Ward helped turn the tide, as he made a steal near the midcourt stripe and raced to the basket for a layup with 9:59 left in the half, and later looped a pass toward the rim to Kameron Shockley for a thunderous dunk.
When Clermont closed the gap to 28-27 with a three-ball at the 5:15 mark, the Eagles used a 9-0 spurt to increase their lead to 37-27. A backside rebound by Vinny Roper, a trey and reverse lay in by Braden Rostad and a layup by Reche' Dixon off a Roper theft contributed to the lead.
Rostad knocked down another triple with 1:25 left to propel the Eagles to a 42-29 lead, but UCC scored the last five points to make the score 42-34 heading to the locker room.
The Eagles held a slim margin at 46-45 with 16:52 left in the final half when they busted loose. Using a relentless ball hawking defense and getting great scoring production from their bench, the navy and gold manufactured a 17-2 run to race ahead 63-47. Eleven points were scored by two nonstarters during the five-minute stretch.
Mekhi Johnson tallied seven points on a turnaround jumper, a layup following a miss off a driving layup by a teammate and a free throw, and James Roundtree sank a 10-footer and banked one home off an interior bounce pass to drive the scoring.
UCC never got closer than 17 points as the Eagles continued to attack them on every level. The lead swelled to 23 points (86-63) with 4:34 left in the game. Kyle Shockley amped up KSU Tusc with two straight steals that resulted in layups to open the scoring and ended up with 12 points during the protraction. He also hit a pair of three-balls on consecutive possessions. Rostad added back-to-back triples and a breakdown drive to the hoop for eight points as the Eagles motored ahead to a 99-82 victory.
Three double figure scorers led 13 Golden Eagles into the scorebook, as Kyle Shockley led the way pouring in 26 points. Rostad rained in four triples and ended with 22 points, while Kameron Shockley dropped in 17.
After knocking off two ranked opponents over the weekend, the Eagles certainly ended 2023 on a high note as they raised their record to 11-4 on the season. They will celebrate the new year with a trip to Buffalo to take on USCAA D1 No. 3 Bryant & Stratton Buffalo on Thursday, January 4 at 6pm, followed by a rematch at USCAA D2 No. 11 Villa Maria College on Friday, January 5 at 4pm.
Mekhi Johnson heads down court with a steal and scored seven points off the bench.
Kyle Shockley heads for another lay up off a steal and scored 26 points, while Ed Daniels get fouled on his way to the bucket
Braden Rostad makes a reverse lay up and scored 22 points against UCC.
(Photos by Patty Tolloti)