By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Monroe Community College men’s basketball team has been making the winning adjustments at halftime all season.
Thursday night was no different.
The Tribunes scored the first six of the second half en route to a 101-80 victory over the Mercyhurst NE Saints on George Monagan Court.
Michael Kelly Jr. (Bronx, N.Y./Fairfield Warde) netted four and Anthony Hemingway (Bronx, N.Y./NIA School) found Elijah Tillman (Garnerville, N.Y./North Rockland) underneath for a bucket, and the Tribunes had a lead they never surrendered at 45-42.
Kelly Jr. finished the night with 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting from the floor. His biggest contribution of the night, though, came on the defensive end where he drew the second half assignment of shutting down Mercyhurst’s Justin Dobbs (Pittsbugh, PA/Allerdice).
“The only adjustment we tried to make was on [Hobbs],” Monroe head coach Jerry Burns explained. “The assistant coaches said to me that ‘we should put a bigger body on him.’ We went out and put Mike Kelly on him and that took him out of his rhythm a little.”
Hobbs came into the game averaging 18.9 points and hitting 2.6 three-pointers per game. The 6-3 guard tallied 15 in the first half and hit 3 of 4 from long range.
“Coach told me to play hard on him,” Kelly said. “He was doing really good, so I took pride in guarding him and took him out of his head.”
With the 6-6 Kelly on him, Dobbs scored five in the second stanza and lost his touch from long range.
“He was shooting over a bigger body that’s athletic,” Burns said. “We’ve done that with a couple of guards, and we’re going to continue to do it”
“He’s versatile,” Burns said of Kelly Jr. “He’s long. He can defend the post. He can defend on the perimeter. He’s quick.”
The Tribunes hit 13 of 21 shots coming out of the locker room.
“It was about getting stops,” Hemingway said. “Then taking over on the offense. We don’t let guys get by us in practice, so we don’t let it happen in the game.”
Hemingway poured in a game-high 28 points.
“He played at a very high level tonight,” Burns said Hemingway. “What I saw of him tonight is the player that we’ve been waiting on. He shot with such confidence.”
The sophomore guard matched a season and career-high. Hemingway netted 28 against Manor College on December 7th. He shot 9 of 21 from the floor that night. Thursday night, Hemingway hit 10 of 15 including 4 of 7 behind the arc.
“Coach wanted me to look for my shot,” Hemingway said. “So that’s what I was doing. I wanted to get my shot.”
Hemingway led Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, CT/Bassick) for a layup. Coleman found Davon Jackson (Odenton, MD/Old Mill) in the lane for a bucket, and Monroe had its first double-digit lead of the night at 63-53 with 12:34 remaining.
Brandon Martin (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) converted a pair of layups on the break to push the advantage to 13 at 74-61 with 7:42 to go.
The Tribunes never looked back.
With the win, Monroe (20-4/9-0) clinched at least a tie for first place with three games remaining.
“That’s important,” Hemingway said of the top spot. “We want to host the Regionals. We don’t want to go on the road. We want to play in front of our fans. We get a lot love here.”
Hemingway took care of the scoring in an 11-5 Monroe run midway through the first half.
The sophomore guard drilled back-to-back catch-and-shoot three-pointers before nailing a pull-up trey. He followed with a drive from the top of the key for a 29-27 Tribune lead with 5:56 to go in the half.
Dobbs answered for Mercyhurst NE. The sophomore guard converted two from the free throw line before hitting back-to-back threes and the Saints led 35-33.
Akeem Krubally (Mount Vernon, N.Y./Mount Vernon) sprung Martin for a layup to knot the score at 35.
Raheem Liggins (Philadelphia, PA/Constitution) hit a jump hook in the lane. Brandon Wilkins (Medina, OH/Medina) connected twice from the free throw line, and Dobbs hit a pull-up jumper from the right wing for a 42-39 Mercyhurst NE halftime edge.
Coleman finished with 10 points and five assists.
Tillman added 10 points and four blocks.
“In the second half he asserted himself,” Burns said of the 6-9 center. “It’s quiet. I just would really like to see him do that for 30-plus minutes. It just can’t be one half or another.”
The Tribunes blocked a season-high 10 shots.
Monroe hit 39 of 70 (55.7 percent) shots from the floor.
The Tribs handed out 19 assists. Hemingway had a game-high six helpers.
Marcus Blythers (Rochester, N.Y./Churchville-Chili) scored nine points.
Dobbs finished with 20 points for the Saints. Jalen Jackson (Warrensville, OH/Warrensville Heights) chipped in 17. Wilkins had 12.
Mercyhurst handed out just nine assists while MCC forced 13 turnovers. The Saints hit 23 of 68 (33.8 percent) shots from the floor.
Monroe has overcome previous halftime deficits in wins over Genesee CC, Niagara County CC and Erie CC.
Eight technical fouls were handed out in the game.
Hemingway also scored 28 in Monroe’s loss to Dean College in last season’s district championship.
Monroe hosts Jamestown Community College on Saturday. A 3 pm tipoff is scheduled.
Mercyhurst (11-11/2-7) hosts Niagara County Community College also on Saturday for a 3 pm tipoff.
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