Hornets put it together to knock off Hot Springs
EDITOR’S NOTE: Because the look back at each day in Bryant athletic history has been so favorably received during the time when there was no sports during the COVID-19 shutdown, BryantDaily.com will continueposting past stories of Bryant athletics either posted on BryantDaily.com (from 2009 to the present) or published in the Bryant Times (from 1998 to 2008).
By ROB PATRICK
BRYANT TIMES
HOT SPRINGS — In the first quarter alone, the Bryant Hornets flashed four different defenses at the Hot Springs Trojans on Tuesday, Dec. 6. And the Trojans were befuddled on offense. For awhile, they stayed in the game on the strength of some long-range 3-point bombs by Jonathan Sims. But a second-quarter surge created a 10-point halftime lead and the Hornets rolled to a 52-39 victory.
Phillip Porchay and Micah Farish each scored 13 points and Chase Shaw added a season-high 12 in the victory, Bryant’s third in a row.
Burning the Trojans’ man-to-man defense with their well-executed Princeton-style offense, the Hornets shot 56 percent from the field.
The Hornets trailed only briefly in the early stages of the game. The game was tied at 11 after Sims’ second trey with 1:17 left in the opening quarter. Bryant then took the lead for good when Shaw, working the high post, fed Chris Chumley in the low post for a bucket.
Chad Knight came off the bench and sparked the Hornets with 8 points during the second-quarter run. His 15-footer to open the period increased the lead to 4. Moments later, Nordman hit a layup and Hot Springs had to have a timeout.
When play resumed, the teams traded turnovers before Hot Springs’ Andrew Melton scored but Knight answered off an inbounds play. After a Trojan miss, Knight got a fine feed from Farish on a backdoor cut and hit a layup to make it 21-13.
Sims drained a 3 but Farish hit a layup beating the Trojans defense with another backdoor cut and a fine feed from Nordman.
Porchay added a free throw and Knight got another layup with Chris Chumley getting the assist, making it 26-16 at the half.
Shaw scored inside off another assist from Chumley to open the second half, then made a steal that led to a basket by Farish and Bryant had its largest lead to that point at 30-16.
A three-point play by Tragion McDaniel and Sims’ last 3-pointer got Hot Springs back within 8 but that was as close as it’d get. Chumley answered with a 16-foot jumper and Porchay nailed a 3.
Bryant led 35-25 going into the fourth quarter. Hot Springs got it back to 8 with 3:30 to go but Knight fed Shaw for a basket inside with 2:38 left and, down the stretch, the Hornets hit enough of their free throws to extend the lead to as much as 15. Layups by Farish and Porchay in the final minute capped the victory.
