SAN ANTONIO – Timing is everything, for good and bad. The Southwestern University Pirates (2-4) entered Friday's contest with the Wildcats (2-7) averaging just about 60 points-per-game as a team, with no player averaging more than single-digit point totals per game. But that team bore little resemblance to the Pirate team that took the floor Friday night against the Wildcats as part of the Trinity Invitational in San Antonio, Texas.
Despite quests by those like Nate Silver to civilize us statistical heathen, old school fans might conclude that the Pirates were just plain due for a hot night on Friday, shooting, as they did, 50% for the game – including a blistering 10-for-18 from three-point distance. Twenty-one points from Maverick Hodge (Bronx, N.Y. / Samuel Gompers) and 13 off the bench by Quayshaun Mitchell (New York, N.Y. / High School for Graphic Communication & Arts) weren't enough for the Wildcats to keep pace, with the Pirates pulling away for an 87-65 victory.
Chris Molina was the story of the game for Southwestern. The sophomore guard came off the bench to score 21 points in only 15 minutes. The 6-footer missed only one shot on the night and finished 4-of-5 from beyond-the-arc and 7-of-8 overall.
The bench as a whole came up big for the Pirates, as fellow reserve Ryan Ogden netted 17 points in 20 minutes of play, including going 12-14 from the free throw line. As a group the Pirate bench outscored its starters a whopping 60 to 27. Ogden also added a game-high 10 rebounds to account for the game's only double-double.
The Wildcats once again struggled on offense but showed promise in doing what teams that sometimes struggle to score must do: get to the free throw line. SUNY Poly attempted 33 free throws in the game, knocking down 24 of them for a reasonable 73% clip. Ryan McCarthy (Camden, N.Y. / Camden) accounted for much of that in going 12-for-14 from the charity stripe, a positive sign from the shooting guard that so far has been known mostly for his outside shooting.
Hodge was excellent at the point guard position, shooting 7-of-15 from the field to tie for the game-high at 21 points. He also had 4 assists and 3 steals.
The final bright spot for the team was the continued involvement of second-semester addition Quayshaun Mitchell. The big power forward played 25 minutes and scored 13 points on 4-of-8 shooting. He also grabbed 5 rebounds to tie for the team-high.
SUNY Poly will conclude the Trinity Invitational with a game against the host Tigers tomorrow at 6:00 pm EST.
