By Paul Casey Gotham
ROCHESTER, NY — Kenny Johnson (Philadelphia, PA./Abington Friends) keyed a decisive 10-0 run as the Monroe Community College Tribunes won their fifth straight defeating the Genesee Community College Cougars in WNYAC action Tuesday night on George Monagan Court.
Down three late in the second half Monroe took command and never looked back.
Coming out of a timeout, Algeron Torrance (Syracuse, NY/Corcoran) got the Tribunes started off a feed from Eddie Callender (Philadelphia, PA/Lankenau). Johnson gave the Black and Gold a lead they never surrendered with a basket on the following possession.
Andre Armstrong (Queens, NY/Notre Dame Prep) added to the advantage when he knocked down his only three of the night. The play started on the opposite of the floor with the ball in Johnson’s hands. The freshman guard hit Isaiah Jefferson (Buffalo, NY/Buffalo East) with a pass at the top of the key. Without hesitation, Jefferson continued ball reversal to Armstrong for the open look and the basket.
MCC used a full court press to cause a turnover, and Johnson followed with a trey of his own from deep in the right corner.
“We had a timeout, and coach just told us to keep pushing it,” Johnson said. “We just became a better team. We locked down on defense and made a nice little run.”
“At halftime we came out decided we were going to press them and get the game going up and down the floor,” commented Monroe coach Jerry Burns. “We were missing a ton of easy shots, and I wanted to get them at a faster pace.”
Genesee responded and closed the deficit to one. Michael Glenn (Fairport, NY/Fairport) and Tyshawn Ferguson (Chicago, IL/Farragut Academy) connected on back-to-back threes to make it a 61-60 game.
“I took the press off,” Burns continued. “Thinking back on it I should have pressed them to the very end. It got us playing our style. When we took the press off, they started making a couple more threes.
Callende paced the Tribunes in the first half with nine points. The game marked the second straight occasion where Callender burned the Cougars. Twelve days ago, the freshman scored 16 as the Tribs thumped GCC 93-70. On that night the Cougar faithful serenaded Callander with repeated air-ball chants after he drew nothing on his first jumper. Tonight, Callender used the memory of his late father and his parents’ anniversary for motivation.
“Today was special,” Callender explained. “I was just giving my all. My father died, so I was thinking about him.”
Callender had a hand in four straight baskets as the Tribs opened a 16-8 lead in the first half. He fed Jefferson on a two-on-one break for an easy layup.
After a GCC timeout, Callender drove from the right side, grabbed his own rebound and finished off the glass. Next time down the floor, Mike Wilson (Philadelphia, PA/Rise Prep) caught the Cougar defense back on their heels and hit Callender slashing through the lane for the basket.
Callender stole a pass on the defensive end and combined with Arnold Fripp (Brooklyn, NY/Brooklyn Collegiate) for a another two-on-one layup.
Wilson gave MCC its largest lead of the first half at eight with a drive in transition.
Callender’s jump hook from the right block gave the Black and Gold a 20-15 lead.
Michael Glenn (Fairport, NY/Fairport) kept the Cougars close in the first twenty minutes. The sophomore connected on four-of-eight from the field including two-of-four from behind the arc. The sophomore up-and-under layup gave Genesee a 24-23 lead.
The teams traded leads throughout the first ten minutes of the second half.
Wilson connected on three straight from behind the arc to keep MCC within striking range.
Callender and Torrance led the Tribs with 13 apiece. Wilson added 12.
Glenn had a game-high 27 for GCC. Kenton Chan-Man (Brooklyn, NY/Erasmus Hall) added 12.
The Tribs came into the game with a +7.2 rebounding margin, yet the Cougars got the better of them on the boards, 44-42. Dijon Wright (Philadelphia, PA/John Bartram) grabbed a game-high 14 boards.
“They take a lot of threes, a lot of long shots,” Burns explained. “It causes long rebounds. Their guards did job of rebounding the basketball.”
Monroe improves to 16-10 with the win. The Tribs travel to Alfred to take on the Alfred State Pioneers Thursday night. Tipoff is scheduled for 7:30pm.
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