Howard College Men’s Basketball Takes Down Odessa College in Monday Night Brawl
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Odessa College | 33 | 48 | 81 |
|
Howard College | 36 | 46 | 82 |
The Howard College Hawks earned another hard-fought victory, this time over Odessa College Monday night in Big Spring, Texas.
The red and black put up an 82-81 total to jump to a 24-3 overall record and an 11-2 conference mark.
The head-to-head with the Wranglers saw the Hawks with a 3-point lead at the half, 36-33. In the second half, the red and black totaled 46 points to Odessa's 48, resulting in a small, but massive victory for Howard College.
'' This was a very big win for us and our season. We knew it was going to be a very physical game and a great test going in'', stated Head Coach Kyle Cooper.
Terry Copeland led the offensive efforts for the Hawks with 19 points, going 7-11 from the field and 5-7 from the line. Copeland had five rebounds and one blocked shot.
Dace Pleasant was another big offensive contributor for the red and black, totaling 17 points after finishing 5-9 from the field, 3-7 from the three and 4-4 from the line. Pleasant led the team in rebounds with 11 and contributed two assists and one steal for the Hawks.
Brandon Ivery and Kuai Deng also had double digits for Howard College. Ivery totaled 14 points on the evening at 3-7 from the field, 3-4 from the three and 5-7 from the line. Ivery added six rebounds, two assists, and one steal for the pack.
Deng had 12 points on the night at 5-7 from the field and 2-2 from the line with seven rebounds, one assist and one blocked shot.
"I thought we just showed resilience. Had some adversity at the start of the game and just stuck together and chipped away at it. Very proud of the team today'', commented Deng.
Collectively, the Hawks shot 54% from the field, 38.1% from the three and 83.3% from the line with a couple of blocks, and three steals.
''For us to win the boards by 17 is something that really sticks out to me. Very proud of our guys'', mentioned Cooper.
Next on the schedule for the Hawks is a trip to Clarendon College Thursday, Feb. 26, at 7:30 p.m.
