By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — If one doesn’t get you, the other one will.
On a night where they lacked defensive energy, the Monroe Community College Tribunes dialed up the offense.
Anthony Hemingway (Brooklyn, N.Y./ NIA School) and Devin Coleman Bridgeport, CT/ Bassick) led the way as the MCC Tribunes erased a halftime deficit and went on to defeat the Niagara County Community College Thunderwolves, 92-90 in WNYAC action on Monagan Court, Thursday night.
Coleman netted a team-high and career-high 26 on 9 of 16 shooting including 6 of 12 behind the arc. Hemingway scored 16 of his 22 in the second half on 5 of 8 shooting, none bigger than a dagger three with 57 seconds remaining on the clock.
Coleman deferred to his teammate and found Hemingway in the right corner for the eventual game winner.
“He was hitting the whole game,” Hemingway said of his teammate. “He could have easily stepped in and took that shot. He was just being a point guard. He saw me. They hedged hard on him because he was hitting all night. He definitely did a good job with the one extra pass. He just did what he had to do.”
The shot gave MCC a 92-87 after trailing by four at halftime and by as many nine in the first 20 minutes. It was another in what is becoming a line of big shots made by the sophomore guard.
“‘Ant”s hit a lot of big shots,” said Monroe head coach Jerry Burns. “That was the the extra pass. We work on that drill in practice every day.”
Hemingway’s jumper with 2.4 seconds to go last Saturday lifted Monroe past Genesee CC. He hit a buzzer-beater earlier in the season from the same right corner to defeat Cecil College.
Monroe reached the 90-point mark for the fourth time this season. The effort was right on time as the Tribs’ usual staunch defense (holding opponents under 70 points per game) was nowhere to be found.
“They shot the heck out of it in the first half,” Burns said. “They had easy shots. They had good looks. They run good offense. No matter what you say to the team about extra pass or offense or whatever it is, it’s just about locking people down. If you can’t lock someone down, you’ll be in a game like that.”
Led by Sheldon Zablotny-Crosby (Cathedral Prep/Erie,PA) the Thunderwolves scored 55 in the first half on 21 of 34 shooting. Zablotny-Crosby hit 8 of 10 including 5 of 7 from long range for 24 points going into the locker room.
“We were chasing him around too much in the man-to-man,” Coleman noted.
Monroe switched to a 2-3 zone after the break. Zablotny-Crosby managed just seven points in the final 20 on 2 of 7 shooting. He missed all four of his 3-point attempts in the second half.
“He was getting good looks,” Hemingway said of his opponent. “We weren’t in him like we’re supposed to be. Coach just made an adjustment and gave him a different look and have guys run out at him, chase him off the three-point line and make him do something else. He didn’t hit like he did in the first half.”
“Just a different look,” Burns said. “We didn’t defend well enough in the half court in man. We decided to try something a little different.”
Hemingway sparked a decisive 10-2 run late in the game as the Tribs erased their final deficit. The sophomore guard scored underneath and converted four straight free throws – the latter two when the Niagara County bench was assessed a technical – for an 82-80 edge. Michael Kelly Jr. (Bronx, N.Y./Fairfield Warde) capped the run with a steal and long lead to Darwin Trotman (Brooklyn, N.Y./John Jay) before scoring on a drive from the wing.
Monroe led 86-82.
After playing just four minutes in the first half because of foul trouble, Kelly Jr. finished with a dozen hitting 5 of 8 shots.
“Mike’s doing everything that we need,” Burns said. “Switching, defending, rebounding, running.”
It was the fifth straight double-digit performance by the freshman forward.
“My teammates helped me keep my head in there,” Kelly said of his lackluster first half. “They kept me working hard.”
Kelly turned in a career-high and game-high 22 in Monroe’s win over Genesee CC on Saturday.
“I definitely want teams in this conference to understand we have a whole team,” Hemingway said of his teammate’s recent work. “Anybody on this team can score 20 points on any given night… Any given night anybody can give us 20-something points.”
Coming out of the locker room trailing by four, Coleman connected from behind the arc when Jayquan Ashley (Brooklyn, N.Y./ NIA School) found him in the left corner for a catch-and-shoot jumper.
Kelly Jr. followed with six straight and Monroe led 60-59.
Corey Mendez (Baltimore, MD/Digital Harbor) and Francisco Williams (Queens, N.Y./Benjamin Cordozo) combined for eight as the Thunderwolves took their final lead of the game.
Mendez converted a rebound and putback. Williams got ahead of the defense for a layup. Zablotny-Crosby had a steal and layup. Williams nailed a baseline jumper. Mike McQuillen (Staten Island, N.Y./Believe Prep) connected on a 3-pointer. Jordan Green (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) hit a pull-up jumper in the lane, and Mendez dropped a pair from the charity stripe as Niagara County took an 80-76 advantage with 7:03 left on the clock.
“Our energy level was non-existent,” Burns noted. “For us energy is directly equated to defense. At Genesee we were defending. We were really defending. Tonight I don’t think we had the same energy or desire.”
Sheldon Zablotny-Crosby paced the Thunderwolves to their largest lead of the first half. After Eli Jones (Fairport, N.Y./Fairport) went baseline and finished with an upfake, Zablotny-Crosby drilled back-to-back 3-pointers for a 34-25 Niagara County lead.
Justin Vaughan (Raleigh, NC/Body of Christ) quickly responded for the Tribs with a trifecta of his own.
Coming out of a timeout, Coleman connected on consecutive treys to cut the lead to three at 41-38.
Zablotny-Crosby led Williams for three and a 46-38 Thunderwolves’ advantage.
The Tribs scored nine straight to take their first lead of the game. Elijah Tillman (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) converted a rebound and putback. Coleman weaved his way through the paint and finished with an up and under move. Andre Phillips (Brooklyn, N.Y./Global Citizenship) scored in the lane, and Trotman finished a conventional three-point play when he drew contact with a drive across the lane.
Monroe led 47-46.
Zablotny-Crosby used a spin move to get into the lane from the top of the arc and score at the rim. He converted a pair of free throws as NCCC took the 55-51 lead into halftime.
Hemingway and Trotman grabbed seven boards apiece as the Tribs outrebounded their opponent 44-33.
Trotman chipped in with 12 points.
Hemingway dished out a game-high five assists. Monroe’s leading scorer, Hemingway also dishes three dimes per contest.
Jones finished with 18 for Niagara County. Green added 13, and Williams chipped in 12. Green and Mendez each had a game-high eight rebounds.
After hitting 6 of 12 3-pointers in the first half, NCCC managed just 2 of 11 from long range in the second stanza.
Monroe (14-4/3-0) hosts Erie CC next Tuesday. An 8 pm tipoff is scheduled at Monagan Court.
Niagara County (14-6/2-2) hosts Jamestown CC next Tuesday for a 7:30 start time.
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