November 21, 2009
NC A&T (2-1) vs Hofstra (3-1)
This is the finals of the Deep Dish Challenge. I don't expect to win, but it would be huge if we could pull the upset, as winning a non-conference tournament is worth a coaching skill point.
Hofstra is rated 78 overall, they have an outstanding offense and are a great shooting team. They only have a team unity of 23, while ours is 43, which will hopefully help us out some in our quest to pull off the upset. They're a small team, their two big men are 6'7” each, giving us some hope of using our size over them.
PG Darren Neverett – a true freshman rated 76 OVR, very fast, a great ball handler, and a good shooter.
SG Daron Penigar – 77 OVR, an above average defender(probably average for the CAA but better than we're used to seeing) and a very good 3 point shooter, averaging 15 ppg so far.
SF Billy Lamkin – a SG playing the 3 spot, a good shooer, great inside and in traffic, also with very very good speed.
Their big men are rated 70 and 66 OVR.
Half
| Time
| NC A&T
| HOF
| Notes
|
1
| 13:30
| 18
| 17
| Ewing keeps us close the first 5 minutes, he has hit 2 3's and has 8 points. They're shooting very well and we eventually are able to get a couple good looks inside. We've drawn two fouls on their starting SF, Lamkin which helps. Our backups are in now.
|
1
| 10:15
| 23
| 20
| I'm really impressed with the backups so far, espicially on defense. Except for one fast break layup i'm trying to be pretty methodical on offense.
|
1
| 7:00
| 30
| 20
| They have gone incredibly cold. Hofstra takes their second time out. I get my starters back in and give the backups a huge hand for their play.
|
| HALF
| 42
| 34
| They closed the lead down to 5 and we pushed it back up to 8 by halftime. Whether it was our defense or they just couldn't shoot in the final 12 minutes or so, Hofstra's shooting problems are definitely the story here. They are 3-11 from 3 and under 50% overall. Their leading scorer, penigar, only has 9 points which is outstanding for us.
On our end we are getting balanced scoring from everywhere. 8 from Ewing, 7 from Alston, 6 from Hayes, and 7 off the bench from Shepherd.
|
2
| 15:45
| 55
| 44
| The lead has been hovering between 8 and 12. Hayes and Coleman have been coming up very big inside and Ewing has hit another 3 for us. They're obviously scoring some but they haven't heated up and gone on a run which is my main fear.
|
2
| 11:15
| 65
| 52
| We extend the lead out a little more. Penigar has missed a couple wide open 3's that he seemed sure to make, and we've really made an effort to get the ball inside, both Hayes and Coleman have doubled their first half totals or more. Backups coming in.
|
2
| 10:00
| 65
| 59
| There it was. A 3, a steal in the full court press, and a fast break shot off a miss and Hofstra scores 7 unanswered in about a minute. I call a time out to settle my guys.
|
2
| 6:35
| 65
| 63
| Hofstra goes on an 11-0 run against our bench. I get our starters back in and try to get control of things again.
|
2
| 5:45
| 67
| 66
| We get two FTs from Coleman, and force a bad shot on their end, but they get the offensive board. Then their PG falls over trying to drive, but their SF picks it up and we foul him going after the loose ball. Peniger ends up draining a 3 and making I a 1 point game.
|
2
| 4:15
| 71
| 70
| We got two FT's from Ewing to go up by 3, and they once again got an offensive board that led to a made basket. We turned it over on our end and a Peniger dunk gave them the lead. Coleman got an easy layin to give us the lead back. Timeout Hofstra.
|
2
| 3:00
| 76
| 72
| After they score to take the lead we get a 3 point play from Coleman, force a missed shot and Coleman gets a dunk on the other end. Coleman has our last 9 points now and is really becoming a major go to guy for us.
|
2
| 1:15
| 80
| 76
| We trade baskets, getting a bucket from Hayes after an offensive board, then another from Coleman. Their ball. We're matching them score for score which is good b/c they haven't missed in a little while.
|
2
| 0:35
| 82
| 78
| They get Lamkin open for a jumper. We get Ewing open for a jumper. Their ball again.
|
We finally get a stop, and sink 2 free throws and put the game away!
NC A&T 84
Hofstra 78
We've blown out inferior opponents before and played some close games against teams in our conference, but I think this is probably the best game I've ever played. It's certainly the first time I've beaten a team rated so far above me. The main thing that I like about this game is that we weren't just taking advantage of a slower team for tons of fast break points, which has earned us more than our fair share of wins. Once Hofstra came back late... in the final 7 minutes or so, we weren't out on the break at all. We were matching them basket for basket in the half court set and finding different ways each possession to get good looks. It also comes in the final of a tournament. An early season tournament that doesn't have any marquee names, sure. But for a team that has been a middle of the pack team in one of the worst conferences in the nation, its a big win.
Their two stars come up big for them. Penigar has 23 and Lamkin has 21. They were a combined 5-15 from 3 though.
Alston: 13 points
Ewing: 15 points/6 assists
Shiloh: 7 points/4 assists
Coleman: 21 points/9 boards (17 second half points)
Hayes: 16 points/7 boards