Hornets endure Rockets’ patience, escape with 42-34 win
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).
LITTLE ROCK — The Bryant Hornets had led by as much as 13 in the third quarter and by 11 midway through the fourth but the super-patient Catholic Rockets of Little Rock rallied to get within 38-32 with three minutes to play. And they got two chances to get closer before Khalen Robinson hit a pair of clutch free throws with :49.7 to go and, after a basket by Phillips Allison for Catholic, Rodney Lambert made a steal and a breakaway dunk to seal a 42-34 win.
The Hornets were short-handed with senior forward Sam Chumley out due to illness. They spent much of the night playing defense as the Rockets worked the ball and worked the ball against the Hornets’ match-up zone. And when Bryant tried to speed them up with a half-court trap, the Rockets broke it and continued to work for the best shot they could get.
So, the Hornets didn’t get many shots in the game. But they made the most of them, hitting 14 of 27 from the field including 7 of 13 from 3-point range. In a game with very few free throws — just 13 between the two teams — Bryant made enough to hang on.
“Overall, I’m really proud to come out of here with a win — with Chumley having the flu and not having him,” said Hornets head coach Mike Abrahamson. “He’s such a main part of what we do, especially against Catholic. He guarded their big so well last time (in Bryant’s 50-27 win at home on Jan. 9).
“But Catrell Wallace steps in tonight, ups his role, plays more minutes and does a phenomenal job on their big guy,” the coach noted. “And that is a big key to our victory.”
Allison, Catholic’s 6-4 senior, was held to 8 points and three rebounds by the Hornets. Wallace, who did a lot of that defensive work including a pair of blocked shots, finished with a game-high nine rebounds.
Robinson finished with 13 points, Deron Canada 11, Lambert 8 and Hunter 7.
“Camren Hunter has a really bad headache and he wasn’t his normal self, but he hung in there and gave us what he had and was tough,” Abrahamson said. “So, to get out of here, a tough place to play, a tough opponent that’s always going to play hard no matter what, we’ll take it.”
The win kept the Hornets in a tie with Conway for third in the 7A-Central Conference going into this Friday’s home battle with Little Rock Central. Conway upset league co-leader North Little Rock to keep pace.
Catholic, which opened the conference season with a win over Cabot, fell to 7-14 and 1-8.
“They played offense seemingly for forever,” acknowledged Abrahamson. “But, you know, we got to halftime and they only had 11, so, I thought we were doing a great job. We were playing good offense. We just weren’t getting the ball very much.”
Bryant held a 17-11 lead at the intermission. The game was tied 7-7 after a quarter. Deron Canada opened the scoring with a 3 but Catholic tied it on a long-range jumper by Mays Porter. Lambert drained a 15-footer but Allison’s three-point play gave the Rockets a 6-5 lead with 2:45 left in the period. It would be their last.
Two free throws by Camren Hunter put Bryant back on top and Charles Daniel tied it at the line in the final minute.
Hunter then opened the second quarter with a 3 to put the Hornets ahead to stay. Daniel hit a running jumper but sophomore Ethan Hilkert, in off the bench, drained a 3 from the corner.
A series of three consecutive charge calls followed before Josh Dawson scored to make it a 2-point game.
But the Hornets closed out the half with two free throws from Robinson and a layup by Hunter.
Robinson started the second half with a 3 and Lambert hit a pull-up jumper for eight-feet out, giving Bryant its first double-digit lead, 22-11.
After a Catholic timeout, Porter hit a 3. Robinson responded in kind and Lambert drained another driving jumper to give the Hornets their largest lead at 27-14.
Porter interrupted with his third 3 for the game only to have Canada pull the trigger from the corner for a triple and a 30-17 lead.
Daniel followed his own miss after that to make it 30-19 going into the final eight minutes.
“Second half, we start to build a little bit more of a lead and I’m thinking, ‘Let’s put them away. Let’s pick it up.’ Because we’re not in foul trouble and I was just kind of waiting,” commented Abrahamson. “Well, we didn’t get the results from picking up the pressure that we wanted to. So, then we go back to our normal half-court defense and we’re not moving as fast, talking as much in that. And they hit some shots. They made plays.
“You can’t really expect them to score 11 again,” he said. “But I thought our guys, for the most part, did a really good job defensively.”
The teams traded baskets initially in the fourth quarter. John Chase hit a 3 for Catholic but Canada scored as he was fouled off a nice feed from Wallace off an offensive rebound. Allison canned a base-line jumper but Canada took a feed from Robinson and bombed in a 3.
Daniel countered with a trey then Robinson came through with an old-fashioned three-point play to give the Hornets a 38-27 lead with 4:17 left.
That’s when Catholic closed the gap. Jordan Edington’s offensive-rebound basket, a Bryant turnover, and a 3 by Dawson make it 38-32 with three minutes to go.
After a Rockets timeout, Canada had a 3 rim out but the Hornets forced a turnover. Robinson missed the front end of a one-and-one to give them another chance, but Daniel’s 3-point try wouldn’t go. Robinson yanked down the carom and was fouled with :49.7 left to set up the closing sequence.
HORNETS 42, ROCKETS 34
Score by quarters
BRYANT 7 10 13 12 — 42
LR Catholic 7 4 8 15 — 34
HORNETS (14-8, 5-4) 42
Hunter 2-6 2-2 7, Robinson 3-4 5-6 13, Lambert 4-6 0-0 8, Canada 4-7 0-2 11, Wallace 0-2 0-0 0, Hilkert 1-1 0-0 3, Merriweather 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 14-27 (52%) 7-10 (70%) 42.
ROCKETS (7-14, 1-8) 34
Daniel 3-8 1-2 8, Chase 1-2 0-0 3, Dawson 2-4 0-0 5, Edington 1-3 0-0 2, Allison 3-5 1-1 7, Porter 3-5 0-0 9, Fitz 0-0 0-0 0, Kleine 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 13-28 (46%) 2-3 (67%) 34.
Three-point field goals: Bryant 7-13 (Canada 3-6, Robinson 2-3, Hunter 1-3, Hilkert 1-1), LR Catholic 6-16 (Porter 3-5, Daniel 1-5, Dawson 1-2, Chase 1-2, Edington 0-1, Kleine 0-1). Turnovers: Bryant 7, LR Catholic 10. Rebounds: Bryant 7-10 17 (Wallace 4-5 9, Lambert 1-1 2, Robinson 0-2 2, Hunter 1-0 1, Hilkert 1-0 1, Merriweather 0-1 1, team 0-1 1), LR Catholic 5-8 13 (Edington 2-1 3, Daniel 1-2 3, Allison 0-3 3, Chase 2-0 2, Dawson 0-1 1, team 0-1 1). Team fouls: Bryant 6, LR Catholic 14.
