Men's Basketball Nipped by AMCATS

PAXTON, Mass. - The Anna Maria College basketball team got 24 points from point guard Junior De La Hoz (Lawrence, Mass.) and defeated Becker College, 73-71, in front of a packed house at The Fuller Activities Center on Thursday night. The win was the second of the week for the AMCATS who now improve to 2-4 on the year. With the loss, the Hawks now fall to 1-4 overall.

From the outset, it was clear these two teams were evenly matched. In all, the game saw nine ties and 11 lead changes.

The first half was closely contested, and after 17 minutes of play the score remained tied, 29-29. De La Hoz finished the half by drilling a go-ahead three-pointer to send AMC into the locker room with a 32-31 advantage.

Sophomore Terrance Favors (Boston, Mass.) paced the Hawks in the first half with 13 points on 6-of-11 shooting from the floor, while De La Hoz led the AMCATS with 11 points including 3-of-6 from beyond the arc.

The second half picked up right where the first half left off, and saw six ties and six lead changes.

With the score still tied at 67 with just over three minutes to go, the AMCATS made their move. Freshman Anthony Click (Springfield, Mass.) stole a pass at the top of the key and raced down court, hitting the fast-break layup while getting fouled in the process. Click hit the subsequent free throw to put AMC a three-point lead.

After a Becker free throw cut the lead to two, De La Hoz buried a three as the shot clock expired to give the AMCATS their largest lead of the game at 73-68.

The Hawks battled back and went to the line down by three with just three seconds left. After making the first free throw, junior Matt Petrides (Belchertown, Mass.) purposely missed the second. Junior Drew Schroll (Portland, Mass.) grabbed the offense board, gave an up fake, and was fouled with no time left on the clock. Schroll sat alone on the free throw line needing to make both shots to send the game into overtime, but when his first shot rimmed out, the AMCATS captured the 73-71 victory.

De La Hoz led all players with 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor and 5-of-aa from downtown. Click also finished in double-figures for the AMCATS, collecting 10 points, two blocks, two assists, and two steals. Junior Ryan Joyal (Marlboro, Mass.) added a team-high eight rebounds in the win before fouling out late in the second half.

The Hawks had four players finish in double figures, including Terrance Favors (21), Trey Jacobs (Lexington Park, Md.) (19), Rajai Leggett (New Haven, Conn.) (13), and Matt Petrides (12). Leggett had a double-double, adding a game-high 10 rebounds in the loss.

The Hawks take to the court again on Tuesday when they host Coast Guard Academy at 6:00 pm. The AMCATS will hit the road to take on Framingham State at 2:00 pm on Saturday.