By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – Credit the Monroe Community College men’s basketball team for knowing all their options. When their first priority was taken away on an eventual game-winning play, the Tribunes adapted.
Anthony Hemingway (Brooklyn, N.Y./ NIA School) drilled a 3-pointer with nine seconds remaining as Monroe rallied to defeat the Cecil College Seahawks, 77-76 in the finals of the Murph Shapiro Tournament on Monagan Court.
Hemingway found himself open on a baseline out-of-bounds play when Cecil’s defense collapsed upon his teammate, Elijah Tillman (Garnerville, N.Y./ North Rockland).
“I wasn’t the first option,” Hemingway said. “Big E was. But they overloaded the paint so much that I was just wide open. I give credit to Big E for setting that screen. That’s why I was so wide open.”
Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, CT) recognized the situation and fed Hemingway in the right corner for the game-winner.
“I was supposed to set a screen and cut to the basket,” Tillman noted. “Once I went in, they both stayed with me, so Ant was wide open. He knocked it down. All the credit goes to him. A big shot.”
It was Hemingway’s second three of the day as he finished with a team-high 21 points.
“We ran a backscreen, split for a fade against a zone,” Monroe head coach Jerry Burns said. “It’s always the opposite. You put Big E on the opposite block and bring him to the ball. It sucks the bottom defender down. The bottom defender went with him, and it leaves Ant wide open. But you got to make the shot. That’s what he did.”
Hemingway’s shot helped Monroe erase a four-point deficit in the game’s final minute.
“He stepped up,” Burns said. “That’s a big time shot.”
After taking a five-point lead early in the second half, the Tribunes found themselves in a back-and-forth affair for the game’s last ten minutes.
Trailing by four midway through the second stanza, Tillman scored six straight to give Monroe the lead.
The 6-9 forward took a pretty dish from Jayquan Ashley (Brooklyn, N.Y./ NIA School) and scored from under the basket. On the ensuing possession, Coleman found him on the break and fed Tillman for a dunk. Big E followed that with another dunk on a feed from Ashley.
“That’s what we work on in practice,” Tillman said. “It’s all chemistry. That’s what we keep working on.”
“He was a huge difference maker in today’s game,” Burns said of Tillman. “The fact that he gave us an inside presence. Our strength is our shooting. We just weren’t making shots. Him on the offensive end just gave us that one dimension. That is the difference between winning and losing.”
Monroe defeated Cecil twice a year ago including a 48-point trouncing in the 2013 Murph Shapiro Tournament.
“They were here for one reason and one reason only,” Burns said of the Seahawks. “To play us.Today they played hard. They were ready for action.”
The Seahawks zone defense frustrated Monroe for much of the game. The Tribs shot just 29-75 (38.7 percent) from the floor for the game.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well,” Burns said. “From the three, which is one of our strengths, we were 7-of-32. But they were all good shots. They didn’t look like bad shots to me. It just wasn’t falling.”
The zone took away Hemingway’s ability to drive. The sophomore guard hit just one of nine shots from the floor in the first half.
“I give credit to the other team,” Hemingway said. “They played hard. I had to look for my teammates. My job was driving and dishing and getting guys shots.
Fa’Teem Glenn (Philadelphia, Pa.) sparked the Seahawks to their largest lead of the first half. The 5-10 guard found Scott Slade (Philadelphia, Pa.) with a long diagonal lead for a layup. Glenn then fed Kameron Outlaw (Bronx, N.Y.) for two. Anthony Estes (Washington D.C.) and Glenn combined on a give-and-go with Estes finishing at the rim. Charles Woods (Takoma Park, MD) converted a rebound and putback. Cecil led 18-13 with 10:30 to go in the half.
After missing their first nine attempts behind the arc, the Tribunes found the measure. Artice Jackson (Baltimore, MD) knotted the game at 20 when he drilled a catch-and shoot trey from the corner. Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, CT) connected on back-to-back possessions from long range to keep the game deadlocked at 26.
“We were rushing in the first half,” Hemingway said. “We weren’t setting our feet or doing what we’re supposed to do – sitting down, catching and shooting. We were rushing.”
Hemingway gave Monroe its first lead of the game at 28-26 with a pair of free throws.
But the Seahawks responded.
Glenn grabbed a long rebound and used an upfake to get inside and score. Woods finished in the lane. Joe Giles (North East, MD) hit a 3-pointer. Slade made it a 37-32 game with a layup.
The Tribunes recovered.
Jayquan Ashley (Brooklyn, N.Y.) went baseline for two. Hemingway hit one of two free throws. Darwin Trotman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) and Coleman ended the stanza with a pair of treys for a 41-39 Tribune lead at half.
Tillman finished with 19 points on 8-10 shooting and a game-high 12 rebounds.
Coleman added nine points and a team-high six assists. Artice Jackson added seven points for Monroe.
Woods scored a game-high 22 for Cecil. Gomes chipped in 20 points for the Seahawks. Glenn dished out a game-high 12 assists.
Monroe outrebounded Cecil 49-36.
The Tribs hit 12-20 free throws while Cecil finished 8-16 from the stripe.
Monroe created 17 turnovers which they converted into 20 points.
The Tribs grabbed 20 offensive rebounds and tallied 20 second-chance points to Cecil’s 11.
Monroe travels to New Rochelle next weekend for the Monroe College Classic. The Tribunes face the Community College of Rhode Island next Saturday. A noon tipoff is scheduled.
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