By PAUL GOTHAM
ROCHESTER, N.Y. – A halftime adjustment and a little redemption proved to be the difference on Monagan Court, Saturday afternoon.
Isaiah Davis (Elizabeth, N.J.) scored a team-and-season-high 24 as the No. 8 Monroe Community College Tribunes defeated the No. 16 Genesee Community College Cougars 85-76 in Region 3 action.
Davis connected three times from behind the arc in the game’s opening moments as Monroe quickly jumped to a double-digit lead.
“I had a bad first half of the season,” said Davis who scored a combined 21 points in his three appearances. “Coming off this break I wanted to show myself that I could actually do better than that. Once I hit those three threes, I just knew I was going to be on fire.”
The 6-4 sophomore guard finished the day 9-of-21 from the floor including 6-of-11 from long range.
“I thought he played much better today,” Monroe head coach Jerry Burns said. “He played harder. He was more engaged. He can still play better than that…It’s great see him finally doing what he can do.”
Davis picked up where he left off connecting from behind the arc on Monroe’s first possession of the second stanza. His catch-and-shoot triple from the top of the arc gave the Tribunes a 48-43 advantage. He tallied five straight moments later to give the Tribs another double-digit advantage.
“Everybody kept telling I have to get back to the old me,” Davis commented. “I just had to show them I’m back.”
Davis led four Tribunes in double figures.
Despite their offensive efforts, the Tribunes needed an 8-3 run in the closing moments of the first half to get separation from the Cougars.
Genesee guard Anthony Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y.) led all scorers at the break with 17 points.
“The Williams kid kept them in the game in the first half,” Burns stated “We should have been up 13, 14 points I thought.”
The 6-0 guard came in averaging less than two 3-pointers per game but connected on 5-of-7 3-pointers. His fifth triple of the half made it a 34-33 game.
“We did a poor job going over top of the ball screen,” Burns explained. “We kept going underneath it and that was a mistake. We adjusted that in the second half.”
Monroe’s defense held the Lincoln High product to one field goal in the second half – a double pump lay up in traffic at the 4:36 mark.
“We got over the top of the ball screen or we doubled it,” Burns continued.
Romaine Thomas (Bronx, N.Y.) sparked a decisive 13-2 run midway through the second half. The 6-8 forward broke a 48-all tie with a pull-up trey. It was one of the sophomore’s three triples on the night.
“Once he gets hot, it’s hard to stop him,” Davis said of his teammate.
Thomas finished with 19 points on 7-of-11 shooting on the night.
“He’s the best big man in our league,” Burns said. “He can shoot it. He can attack. He can handle. He can do a lot of things, but he still has not played his best game.”
Darwin Trotman (Brooklyn, N.Y.) pushed the lead to five with a layup in the open court. Damon Miraud (Elizabeth, N.J.) converted on of two from the free throw line. Then Trotman tallied five straight with a catch-and-shoot 3 and a tap in. Roger Harris (Haverstraw, N.Y.) made it an 11-point game when he got position in the lane and finished a jump hook.
Monroe’s defense held GCC without a field goal for three and a half minutes.
“We had to pick it up a little bit,” Trotman commented. “We were slacking on defense a little bit. They weren’t supposed to get 76. It’s supposed to be 60.”
Monroe led 61-50 with 12:46 remaining. Genesee could not get any closer than seven after that.
Harris finished with six points and two rebounds in 13 minutes off the bench.
“I thought he did a really good job coming in off the bench,” Burns noted. “He made a couple of easy baskets on the seal.”
Trotman scored 16 on 6-of-12 shooting. The sophomore added six rebounds, three assists, three blocks and two steals.
“This was a very important game, a conference game, a rival game,” Trotman said. “It prepares us to get to nationals.”
Davis registered a double-double with 10 rebounds.
Miraud also finished with a double-double netting 10 and grabbing 15 caroms.
Monroe won the battle on the boards, 53-46 including a 21-13 advantage on the offensive glass.
The Tribs converted 11 Genesee turnovers into 14 points.
The game was Monroe’s first since December 19th.
“I was concerned we hadn’t played in a month,” Burns said. “It’s been a month. We’ve had good practices, but we had a lot of guys catch cramps just because we haven’t been playing. I was more concerned that we would be down at halftime because of the lack of play.”
Monroe (11-2/1-0) travels to Niagara County Community College, Thursday night.
Genesee’s Williams led all scorers with 25. He converted eight of ten free throws. Terrence Brown (Philadelphia, PA) added 15. Alex Morris (Ashford, AL) scored 13, and Didier Antoine (Brooklyn, N.Y.) chipped in with 10. Rahsaan Williams (Brooklyn, N.Y.) grabbed 14 boards and blocked seven shots.
GCC(13-5/0-2) hosts Erie CC on Thursday.
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