Brown Topples UNH 72-68
Wednesday, January 08, 2014
Senior guard Sean McGonagill scored 23 points and freshman guard Tavon Blackmon added a career high 14 points as Brown held off a late New Hampshire rally to defeat the Wildcats, 72-68, in a non-league game at the Pizzitola Sports Center. The Bears improve to 7-6 overall with the win while New Hampshire lost its 12th straight game to fall to 2-12 on the season.
“I’m happy we won the basketball game, especially after dropping our last four games,” said Brown head coach Mike Martin. “We did a good job attacking their zone for 32 minutes, getting it inside and playing inside-out. Tavon and Sean did a great job getting us into our offense. We just needed a little more killer instinct in the final eight minutes.”
McGonagill, the Ivy League’s leading scorer, had 13 of his 23 points in the opening half as the Bears built a 41-31 lead after 20 minutes. He connected on 7-of-12 field goals, including 4-of-8 from behind the three-point arc, and grabbed seven rebounds.
McGonagill became Brown’s fourth all-time leading scorer with 1,365 career points, jumping two places past Alai Nuualiitia (1,344 points from 1999-03) and Peter Sullivan (1,361 points from 2007-11). He also moved into third place on Brown’s career 3-point list with 204 career treys.
Blackmon’s 14 points came on a dazzling mix of treys and drives to the basket. He converted 6-of-8 field goals, including both treys.
Bears’ junior forward Dockery Walker earned his first start of the season and responded with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting, and six rebounds. Freshman Steven Spieth pulled down a team high eight rebounds for the Bears.
Playing without junior Rafael Maia, the Ivy League’s second leading rebounder, Brown was out-rebounded by a 42-35 margin. New Hampshire’s Patrick Konan pulled down a game high 13 rebounds and completed the double-double with 14 points.
The Wildcats were led by Jordon Bronner, who possed in 23 points, and Jaleen Smith with 15 points.
Brown jumped out on the Wildcats early, building a 16-7 lead at the 13 minute mark after three free throws by Norman Hobbie. The Bears later extended their lead to 12 points, 24-12 on a McGonagill trey.
Blackmon gave Brown its biggest lead of the half, 35-21, on a layup with 6:06 remaining, but New Hampshire answered immediately with an 8-0 run to get back in the game, 35-29, following two free throws by Jordon Bronner with 4:10 left in the half.
The Bears led 41-31 at intermission and pulled ahead by19 points in the first seven minutes of the second half, 54-35, on a McGonagill fast break lay-up. Hobbie’s trey with 9:09 remaining gave the Bears their biggest lead, 61-40.
New Hampshire chipped away at the Bears lead and made a late 23-8 run, to trail 69-63, on a trey by Jaleen Smith with 34 seconds remaining.
Brown completes its non-league schedule on Saturday, January 11, hosting Daniel Webster at the Pizzitola Sports Center. Tip-off is 1:00 pm
