By Paul Casey Gotham
BATAVIA, NY – Saddled with a slump, Jerry Burns and his Monroe Community College Tribunes headed out on the road. An inspired effort buoyed by some outside motivation made the difference.
Eddie Callender (Philadelphia, PA/Lankenau) notched a double-double, and three teammates finished in double figures as the Tribunes dispatched the Genesee Community College Cougars 93-70 in WNYAC action Thursday night.
Callender scored all 16 of his points in the first half as the Tribs grabbed a commanding 47-36 lead before the break.
He missed everything on his first shot, and the home crowd serenaded the freshman forward chanting “air ball” every time he touched it from there. Callender promptly went on to hit six of his next eight shots from the floor quelling the tempestuous fans along “Cougar Trail.”
“It got me going,” Callender said of the crowd’s taunts. “I used it as a way to push me harder.”
The left-hander led as MCC outscored the Cougars 16-3 to close the first half. He took a high-low pass from Algeron Torrance (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) and finished in traffic. One free throw later and Callender completed the traditional three-point play.
Next trip down the floor Jahvari Josiah (Brooklyn, NY/Beach Channel) drove the lane and shoveled a pass under the outstretched arms of the defense to Callender for the basket.
Kenny Johnson (Philadelphia, PA/Abington Friends) drove across the lane and threaded a pass to Callender on the baseline for a lunge and the deuce. MCC led 41-33 after Callender completed another three-point play.
After a Cougar basket and free throw closed the gap to 41-36, Josiah scored five straight. The freshman guard got ahead of the pack for an open-floor dunk. He followed that with a steal and a free throw after getting fouled. When he missed his second attempt from the line, Josiah alertly corralled the rebound and hit a jumper in the lane.
Andre Phillips (Brooklyn, NY/Global Citizenship) closed the half scoring three. The freshman hit one of two from the line. On the next possession, Phillips rolled off a high ball screen, and Johnson fed him in the lane for a jump hook. The Black and Gold took the 13-point lead into halftime.
The Tribs outrebounded GCC 29-15 for the first 20 minutes and 53-30 for the game.
The lead bulged to 25 early in the second stanza.
“The ball finally dropped for us tonight,” Burns commented. “We’ve lost three close games (lately), and I thought we might come out flat. There is that tendency to sit back when you are losing.”
Andre Armstrong (Brooklyn, NY/Notre Dame Prep) scored nine as the Tribs took a 66-41 lead. Armstrong opened the half with a pull up three. After Francis Obumneme (Nigeria/Konigin Des Fredes) hit a baseline turnaround jumper, and Johnson connected in the lane, Anderson followed with a pair of free throws and layup off a long lead from Johnson.
“We played together tonight,” Armstrong said of MCC’s performance. “We locked down on D.”
After Tuesday’s loss, Armstrong expressed frustration about the Tribunes habit of making mistakes. Tonight was different.
“We were giving up too many layups,” the sophomore explained. “Tonight we contained the dribble. Shots started falling.”
Callender led Armstrong on the break for a layup, and Marcus Feagin (Niagara Falls, NY/Niagara Falls) hit a pair from the free throw line for the largest margin to that point.
“Everybody chipped in,” Callender added.
Johnson dictated tempo throughout the night from the point guard position. His ability to advance the ball quickly between the free throw lines broke down the Cougar defense.
“He did a great job,” Burns said of Johnson’s effort. “Push, push and make good decisions. That’s what we need out of Kenny. You get up by 20, and there’s eight minutes to go, and everybody wants to pull the ball out. You got to stay with what got you the lead.”
Callender finished the game with 16 on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor and four-of-four from the free throw line to go with a game-high 10 rebounds.
Torrance added 16 points and seven boards. Armstrong and Isaiah Jefferson (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo East) each contributed 13.
Deylon Bovell (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech) had a game-high 18 for the Cougars. Kenton Chan Man (Brooklyn, NY) added 15, and Michael Glenn (Fairport, NY/Fairport) had 11 with Dijon Wright (Philadelphia, PA/ John Bartram) getting 10.
The Cougars fall to 13-9 with the loss.
MCC improves to 12-10 and 3-3 in conference action. The Tribs travel to Olean on Saturday to take on Jamestown-Olean. Tipoff is scheduled for 1PM.
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