Courtesy of SaintPetersPeacocks.com
JERSEY CITY, NJ – Seniors Quadir Welton (Philadelphia, PA/Math, Civics and Science Charter) and Trevis Wyche (Neptune, NJ/Saint Peter’s Prep), and the sophomore duo of Antwon Portley (Lancaster, TX/Lancaster) and Samuel Idowu (Brooklyn, NY/Lafayette Educational Complex) all scored in double figures for the Peacocks as they earned a convincing, 84-70, win over Manhattan College on Sunday afternoon in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference league game. The Peacocks improve to 1-1 in the MAAC, and 4-3 overall on the season.
After a couple of quick exchange of baskets in the early goings, the Peacocks took over the lead on a three by Idowu, giving the Peacocks the 7-5 early advantage at the 15 minute mark sparking an 8-0 run that was capped off by a three by Nnamdi Enechionyia (Springfield, VA/St. James School (Samford)) with 12:49, extending the Peacock lead to 12-5. A three-point play by Portley and a traditional three point bucket by him at 11:04 pushed the largest lead at that point of eight (18-10). With 6:35 on the clock, Idowu’s layup off a dish from Wyche gave the Peacocks its first double digit lead of the afternoon at 25-15. Idowu continued to light up the scoreboard, hitting another contested three ball and a layup at the rim for five straight points extending the lead to 12 (31-19) with just under three and a quarter left in the half. The Peacocks would not allow the Jaspers to fall under double figures, maintaining the lead and taking a 38-26 score into the locker room. Idowu scored a team-best 10 points in the first half, making four out of the 11 Peacock field goals, and two out of the five made trifectas.
The Peacocks opened up the second half on an 11-4 run, sparked by Portley’s seven points, extending the Peacocks lead to, 49-30, by the first media timeout of the half. The run extended to 16-4 after a Wyche layup, pushing the score to 54-30 (largest lead of the game at 24 points). Manhattan managed to cut the deficit to 17 points on three consecutive three point baskets by Calvin Crawford, who hit two, and their top scorer Zavier Turner who added the other, making the score 56-39 with just under 12 minutes in the game. That score would stick for three full minutes until 9:59 when Manhattan added two made free throws to the board, cutting the Peacocks lead down to 15. A pair of Wyche free throws, making it 64-43, got the score back over the 20-point threshold with 7:38 remaining and the Peacocks and Jaspers went back and forth for the next four minutes hovering between a 15 and 17 point margin, until the contest closed out at 84-70.
“I think it was a great team win; I feel like all of our guys from top to bottom contributed,” said head coach John Dunne. “I know some guys didn’t get some of the minutes that they have been getting in the past but, I thought everybody had good quality minutes today. I feel good about the win. We are playing unselfish basketball right now and moving the ball. Offensively we moved it a lot better today than we did against Iona the other night. Defensively, I thought we had good focus about us, and these guys executed very well today and I am proud of them.”
“At the end of the day, we know that if we’re sharing the ball and we’re moving it, and we’re getting a second paint touch, we can be pretty good and really really efficient offensively,” added Dunne.
Welton finished with 18 points and eight rebounds, Wyche match his season-best with 17 points and added five assists, Portley recorded his season-high of 15 points and chipped in three rebounds and three assists, while Idowu finished with 10 points and four rebounds on the afternoon. Saint Peter’s won the rebounding battle, 34-32, becoming the first team this season to outrebound the Jaspers and the team shot an outstanding 25-of-46 (54.3%) from the field and 6-of-15 (40.0%) from behind the arc in the victory. Turner who dropped 30 points led the Jaspers on the day.
The Peacocks hit the road for a two-game stint away from Jersey City. The Peacocks will head to Houston, Texas to face Houston Baptist on Wednesday, December 7, at 7:00 p.m. central time, and then head back east to take on nationally ranked Maryland on Saturday, December 10 at noon.
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