Box Score

Gwynedd Valley, PA - In the final regular season game for five Crimson Eagles, PBU had trouble coming to grips with an aggressive Griffins defense.

Offensively speaking, the Crimson Eagles didn't fair too bad in the opening half in unfriendly territory shooting a solid 50% from the floor. That is, if you simply want to consider the trips down the court when PBU was able to get a shot off. The stifling Gwynedd-Mercy defense pressured the Crimson Eagles into 20 first half turnovers, leading to 28 GMC points.

The first quarter of the game, the Crimson Eagles held their own against the high flying Griffins. At the 12:04 mark of the opening stanza, GMC only held a 15-11 lead over PBU. Things seemed to take a turn for the worse at this point for the Crimson Eagles. GMC quickly made it 22-11 before making it 28-13 with 8:30 left. That's a 13-2 run a 3:04 span.

It got worse. The next minutes saw the Griffins outscore PBU 22-9 to open up a 28 point lead, 50-22. At halftime, the scoreboard read GMC 51-PBU 28.

Bench points were one statistic that tells the story. The Griffins could count on 28 points off their bench whereas A PBU Ian Zang (Alburtis, PA / Emmaus) bucket was the only points off the bench for PBU in the first 20 minutes. 

With a 23 point lead coming out of the locker room, one might suspect the Griffins to let off the gas a little, but GMC had no intentions to do so. They quickly built a 37 point lead and eventually reach a 38 point lead with 9:52 left. You would think with the score line continuing to increase that the Griffin pressure was creating a copious amounts of turnovers like in the first half, but PBU only committed 5 turnovers in the second half. Instead, it was the Crimson Eagles shooting that took a downward spiral. After going 11-for-22 in the first stanza, PBU went a dismal 8-for-29 in the final 20 minutes.

Ironically, despite the dip in shooting form, the Crimson Eagles managed to score more in the second half than in the first.

With the contest long-but-decided, the second half became a formality and GMC ran away 89-58 winners.

Senior guard Adam Derus (Lancaster, PA / Manheim Township) continued his hot-hand with his fourth consecutive game with 20 or more points. This time he dropped 22 points, thanks in no small part to a perfect 10-for-10 from the free-throw line. Charles Kennedy (Philadelphia, PA / Roxborough) contributed a solid 18 points for his 2nd best output of the season. Newcomer Kevin Joseph (Bronx, NY / HS for Leadership) had his season best 6 assists.

PBU finishes up the regular season at 4-21, 2-16.

The Crimson Eagles still have the NCCAA East Region to look forward next week. On Wednesday, February 22, PBU will face Lancaster Bible College in Lancaster, PA. Game time is yet to be announced.