Friars survive a close call with Southern
Wednesday, November 23, 2011
The coach said there would be nights like this.
Despite shooting a woeful 26.5% from the floor for the game, Providence managed to hold off the Southern Jaguars 59-53 in game two of the South Padre Island Invitational at the Dunkin Donuts Center Tuesday night - largely due to a decided advantage on the free throw line.
Firing away 26 attempts from the line in the first half, and another 21 in the second half, PC sank a total of 32 out of 47 from the line - and in the process, outscored the Jaguars 32-9 from the free throw line. Add to the bizarre totals a 48-38 advantage on the rebounding side, plus forcing 19 Jaguar turnovers...and somehow, the Friars managed to pull out the win.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTHitting just one of their first 12 attempts from the floor in the first half, PC slowly eeked out a 30-21 lead at halftime by outscoring SU 19-2 at the line. A 13-2 edge off of the offensive glass also helped, as the Friars managed just five made field goals out of 26 attempts (19%) in the half, yet led on the scoreboard by nine points. Clearly, while the offense struggled to find the basket, the defensive effort was solid throughout...limiting the Jaguars to just 33% shooting from the floor and only 1-7 on three-point attempts.
In the second half, the Friars still led by nine at 34-25 with 16:16 to play when Southern began a 13-4 run with scoring coming from Mike Celestin (18 points) and Derick Beltran (12 points). With the score tied at 38-38 halfway through the half, PC knew it was in for a fight to the finish - and that's what they got. With the score still knotted up at 43 with 8:15 to play, the Friars finally managed to pull away after a 12-4 run, with Gerard Coleman (21 points, 11 rebounds) doing much of the damage. Key free throws down the stretch from Coleman and freshman LaDontae Henton (11 points, 7 rebounds) pushed PC up eight with 2:17 remaining.
The Friars ran their offensive sets without much difficulty, and even with Southern overplaying the passing lanes and retreating with solid transition defense, it was simply a case of getting good looks, but nothing much falling into the basket. For the game, PC shot an anemic 13-49 from the floor, but the Friars were saved by their 32-47 performance from the line, their rebounding advantage and the 14-8 edge on points scored off turnovers. Defensively, PC held Southern to 33.9% shooting (20-59), and just 4-20 from three-point range (20%).
PC is now 4-0 on the season, while Southern falls to 1-3. As the old adage goes - "a win is a win," even when there are nights like this.
Friar Notes
Assistant coach Brian Blaney (who had the pre-game scouting duties on the Jaguars) mentioned during the post-game radio interview that the young Friars' legs are a little tired at this stage of the season...and they'll use the next couple of days to recuperate before resuming play in Texas over the Thanksgiving holiday...Coleman's double-double (21 points, 11 rebounds) is the first of his career, and both totals are career highs in points and rebounds...PC attempted only four three-point field goals for the entire game, making one (Henton)...there were two recruiting targets in attendance for the game, watching the proceedings with two of the newest members of the Friar Class of 2012 Ricky Ledo and Kris Dunn - highly regarded big men Nerlens Noel and Goodluck Okonoboh...as per a Facebook post, 6-10 JUCO forward Daquan Brown, who attended Saturday's game against Florida A&M, says he's ready to enroll at PC for the spring semester. The PC coaching staff would not comment directly on Brown's situation...after a 3:45 am departure from campus Wednesday morning, the Friars will fly from Boston to Houston, then onto Harlingen, TX before busing into South Padre Island, TX in the afternoon. PC will play the Big 12's Iowa State Friday night at 8:30 (8:00 pm pre-game on 103.7 WEEI-FM and www.friars.com), and Northern Iowa from the Missouri Valley Conference on Saturday night...Southern, which lost to Rice 80-65 in their first SPI match up last Saturday, will face Florida A&M Friday in Texas...
