GARY, Ind. -- Offense was plentiful in the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College men's basketball season opener against Trinity Christian (Ill.) at the Redhawk Classic hosted by IU-Northwest. The marathon contest went to double overtime and it was Trinity Christian that walked away with a 121-114 victory in double overtime.
The 114 points scored is a new single-game record for the Pomeroys.
Shon Tupuola and
Taray Howell had chances to win the game in regulation after
Greg Johnson knotted the contest at 90. The Pomeroys put together a furious comeback to get it back to even as they trailed by 13 points with just over six minutes remaining before embarking on a 14-3 run in less than four minutes to make it just a one possession game at 86-84 on a Howell jumper with 2:36 remaining. Johnson hit a pair of free throws with 54 seconds remaining and the Pomeroys got the defensive stop before the game went to its first overtime.
Tupuola scored on a dunk with 11 seconds to go in the first extra frame to make it 100-99 and the Pomeroys were forced to foul. Trinity Christian made 1-of-2 and
Taeron Hogg hit a jumper at the buzzer to knot the game at 101 and send the contest to its second extra period.
In the second overtime, Trinity Christian scored the first 10 points before Hogg connected on a 3-pointer and another comeback would not be in the cards as SMWC fell 121-114.
The Pomeroys put five scorers in double digits -- including four different players with over 20 points. Hogg led the way with 25 points with a trio of 3-pointers and nine rebounds. Tupuola was a force inside with 23 points and 17 rebounds to go with three blocked shots. Howell scored 22 points and dished out five assists in his debut.
Greg Jenkins posted 20 points while
Caleb Iheukwu was credited with 12 points.
SMWC tallied 10 3-pointers in the game and hit 40-of-87 shots (46.0 percent) along with 51 rebounds and 12 steals. Jenkins tallied seven steals in the contest.
There is no rest for SMWC as they turn right around to face host IU-Northwest on Saturday, November 2 at 1:30 pm (CT) in their second game of the Redhawk Classic.
