Men’s Basketball Defeated by Marymount (Va.) University

ARLINGTON, VA. — The Hiram College men’s basketball team was defeated by Marymount University, 71-67, today (Sunday, Jan. 3) in the consolation game of the Marymount Holiday Classic in Arlington, Va. [Game Stats]

Following today’s game, the Terriers are now 5-6 overall, while the Saints improve to 6-6 overall for the season.

Hiram opened the first half by scoring the first six points and reached its largest lead of the game, 9-2, at the 17:05 minute mark on one-of-two free-throws by junior forward Babajide Eniola (Washington, D.C./Seed Charter). Marymount answered with five straight points to make it a one possession game at 9-7 with 16:21 left in the half. The Terriers never relinquished the lead and had a 29-23 margin thanks to a three-pointer by freshman guard Tom Herchek (Randolph/Waterloo) with 3:25 left before halftime. The Saints outscored Hiram, 7-2, to end the half as Hiram had a slim 31-30 lead at the break.

Marymount took the lead for the first time at the 18:15 mark with the score of 33-32 and neither team would lead by more than four points during the remainder of the half. The score would be tied a total of nine times and both teams exchanged leads 13 times throughout the period. A layup by Eniola late in the game gave the Terriers a 67-66 lead with 29 seconds left to play. But Marymount would score the final five points of the game to go on to a 71-67 victory.

Both teams shot well from the field for the game, with the edge going in favor of Marymount who shot 44.6 percent (25-of-56) and Hiram converted on 43.1 percent (22-of-51) of its attempts.

The Saints had two players score in double figures with Stephen Simoneau and Sam Sentz both scoring 13 points. Davon Speight grabbed a game-high nine rebounds.

Hiram had four players score in double digits led by junior forward Hassan Muhammad (Akron/Buchtel) with a season-high 14 points on four-of-seven shooting (57.1 percent). Freshman guard Alan Sheppard (Wadsworth) was second with 12 points as all of his points came from three-point range and shot four-of-six (66.7 percent) for the game. Junior guard Nick Russo (Strongsville/St. Peter Chanel) and sophomore forward Chris Meyer (Chagrin Falls/Kenston) rounded out the high scorers with 11 points each. Russo also recorded a game-high six assists.

Hiram will travel to Crawfordsville, Ind. for a North Coast Athletic Conference game against Wabash College on Friday, Jan. 8. Tip-off is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.

FOR MORE INFORMATION, please contact Hiram College Sports Information Director Jeff Hoedt by phone at (330) 569-5495, by FAX at (330) 569-5392 or by email at hoedtjm@hiram.edu.