The defending champion Hoyas took a 2-0 lead over the Lakers in the New Breed Basketball Association finals with a resounding 105-82 victory Friday night at the Educational Complex gym.
The Lakers are a game team, but to have any chance of a comeback they will have to dig themselves out of a 2-0 hole — and against the Hoyas full squad. Friday night, for the first time this season, local basketball fans were able to see the Hoyas at full strength, and although the Lakers were competitive early in the game, the depth of the defending champions proved to be the difference in the end.
The Hoyas started fast in the opening period and led by nine points on three three-pointers by Akeem Francis, enjoying a lead of as much as 12 points before the Lakers closed the gap to 23-17.
A 7-2 run by the Lakers led by Jerome Nathaniel got them to within one point of the lead at 25-24 to start the second quarter. The Hoyas responded with a 15-5 run to extend the lead out to 11 points but a 12-2 run by the Lakers in the late stages of the second quarter, and the lead was back down to one at 42-41 heading into the locker room at the half. Francis led the Hoyas with nine points in the quarter, and his team’s second unit was able to play the final five minutes of the first half.
The start of the second half saw the Hoyas’ lead quickly balloon to 10 points at 51-41 as a result of a 9-0 run. The Lakers would battle back to get to with six at 59-53, but a 12-8 run by the defending champs to end the third and the lead was quickly back out to 10 points at 71-61.
The Hoyas looked to put the game out of reach at the start of the fourth quarter, extending the lead to 14 points at 78-64. But the Lakers responded to cut the lead to nine at 78-69. It would be as close as the Lakers would get the rest of the way as the champs exploded down the stretch, outscoring the Lakes 34-21. The Hoyas got 11 points from Darnell Hendrickson and eight from Steven Hodge in their huge fourth quarter.
“Like I said before, when I have my full squad it is hard to beat me," said Hoyas Coach Sammie Lee. “We have a lot of depth and we will wear you down."
“We know it’s not going to be easy, but we have been here before — we are not giving up," said Lakers’ Coach Calvin Burke. “We have to take better care of the ball and we have to stick with and execute our game plan."
Hendrickson led the Hoyas with a quiet 27 points, Francis netted 24, Roman Castillo had 19 and Hodge finished with 16. For the Lakers, it was Nathaniel leading the way with a team-high 21 points, Rashawn Williams scored 19, and Roal Caesar and Shaun Hodge finished with 11 and 10 points respectively.
