By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — Tashawn Desir (Brooklyn, N.Y./NIA School) and Anthony Hemingway (Brooklyn, N.Y/NIA School) led four in double figures as the Monroe Community College Tribunes (21-5/10-0) erased a 12-point halftime deficit to defeat the Erie Community College Kats (15-9/6-4) in Western New York Athletic Conference action on George Monagan Court, Saturday afternoon.
Desir and Hemingway combined for 22 second-half points as the Tribunes used the long ball to win for the 14th straight time and secure their position as the number one seed in the upcoming Region 3 tournament.
Desir capped a 16-5 run with a catch-and-shoot three to give Monroe its first lead of the second half at 65-64 with 5:01 left on the clock.
After hitting just one shot in the first twenty minutes, Desir connected on 4 of 7 after the break including both of his attempts behind the arc.
“When you shoot a lot of reps in practice, you know what you’re doing wrong,” Desir said. “Shooters gonna shoot. I gotta stay aggressive…I didn’t hang my head. I kept my confidence up.”
Trailing by ten, T.J. Davis (Liverpool, N.Y./Liverpool) ignited the run when he took a feed from Hemingway and connected behind the arc.
After Manny Joseph (Brooklyn, N.Y./Midwood) hit one of two free throws, Artice Jackson (Owings, MD/Milford Mill Academy) made it a one-possession game with a 3-pointer on another assist from Hemingway.
“Their two top guards were up so high,” Hemingway explained. “I drove hard and there wouldn’t be anybody on the wings. When I kick out, we have good shooters. Those guys are in there to shoot the ball. They just did a good job hitting shots.”
Hemingway hit two free throws before Desir’s trey gave Monroe a 65-64 edge.
“Those shots that he was taking were all good shots,” Monroe Head Coach Jerry Burns said of Desir’s struggles in the first stanza. “The first half there were a lot of good shots. We just missed. Never be afraid to take a good shot, but always be afraid to take a bad shot.”
Stefano Osuji (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester City) scored five straight to give Erie its final lead of the game at 71-70 with 2:35 left on the clock.
Elijah Tillman put the Tribs back in the lead for good when he grabbed his own miss and finished in traffic.
“He made a huge basket,” Burns said of Tillman’s bucket. “That reminded me of the one up at Niagara. Same thing, it’s a two-point game, and he misses, but he stays with it…Those things are momentum changers. I don’t think he was a dominant force today, but that was a huge basket.”
Hemingway made it a two-possession game when he nailed a three in transition.
Osuji responded with a 3-pointer of his own. Erie had a chance to take the lead, but Davis blocked an Osuji attempt at the rim.
Erie outscored Monroe 11-1 midway through first to grab a double-digit lead.
“They were pressuring us, and we fed into their game,” Hemingway stated.
Dashawn King (Bronx, NY/ASE) drove baseline and used a reverse layup for a deuce. Fabian MacDonald (Brooklyn, NY/Transit Tech) cashed in a pair of free throws. Osuji took an inbound pass and drove from the corner for two. Valworth Jones (Brooklyn, N.Y./Brooklyn Collegiate) hit one of two from the free throw line, and Kareem Sulaiman (Brooklyn, N.Y./Pacific) nailed a baseline jumper for a 28-18 Erie lead.
“We were so lethargic, lackadaisical,” Burns commented. “We just didn’t seem to have any life.”
Sulaiman led all scorers with 13 at the half on 5 of 11 shooting. Monroe limited the 6-6 forward to two points in the second stanza.
“I credit that to RJ (Roger Harris),” Burns said. “He had a nice rhythm going. He doesn’t put the ball on the floor. He just shoots jump shot after jump shot. He kinda got that going into a nice rhythm. RJ finally got him out of that rhythm.”
Monroe hit 8 of 10 behind the arc after the break.
“They were zoning us a lot,” Burns stated. “I don’t think we really got our inside game going.”
Erie hit 15 of 29 shots (51.7 percent) in the first half. The Tribs limited the Kats to 11 of 27 in the second half.
Desir and Hemingway netted 17 apiece.
“This was definitely an emotional win,” Hemingway noted.
Desir registered game-highs with five assists and eight rebounds.
Joseph hit 3 of 6 behind the arc and finished with 13 points.
Davis chipped in 12 scoring all of his point from long range going 4 of 7.
The Tribs outrebounded their counterparts 35-31.
Monroe handed out 17 helpers on 24 field goals.
McDonald led all scorers with 21 on 7 of 13 shooting for the Kats.
King and Sulaiman added 15 each.
Osuji had 10 points for ECC.
Monroe’s Jackson brought the crowd to its feet with a dramatic putback hammer dunk in the final minute of the first half.
Monroe closes the regular season Thursday at Genesee Community College.
Erie hosts Niagara County Community College on Tuesday.
Monroe will host and have the number one seed of the Region 3 tournament which will take place on March 1st and 2nd.
Paul Gotham is the founder, owner, editor and lead writer at Pickin’ Splinters. Paul is the Communications and Media Director of the New York Collegiate Baseball League. He is a contributor at USA Today and member of the USBWA. You can follow Paul on Twitter @PickinSplinters.
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