The men’s basketball team started off hot, with an 8-0 run against the Immaculata University Might Macs, in a home game on Wednesday, Feb. 3.
The Mighty Macs called the first timeout of the game during the first half with 12 minutes and 50 seconds left on the clock.
“This is our first time beating Immaculata in three games, so it felt really good to finally come out with the win,” Tyheim Monroe, sophomore forward, said. “It’s all about playing hard for 40 minutes as a team. As a team I think we played together for the 40 minute game, which showed in the end.”
Head coach Tim McDonald was especially pleased with the players’ performances.
“I think our performance was pretty good. We got off to a great start and was just told we got off to a 23-7 lead and that was really important to us,” McDonald said. “Because of the ‘Do Blue’ event we knew we were going to have a big crowd and had to make sure our energy was up and we needed to make sure we used it in a positive way instead of coming out overly hyped.”
The men lost to Immaculata three times this season, so they knew what their primary focus was for the game was: defense.
“We got after them on the defensive end and I think the start of the game really just pushed us out and gave us that lead and we led throughout,” McDonald said. “Even when they cut it down to two towards the end of the game, we closed out with a 12-2 run, which was a pretty good job by the guys to step up and put the game away.”
The youth shined as the Cavalier’s top four scorers were all underclassmen.
Forward’s Tyheim Monroe and Deryl Bagwell led the way for the Cavs, scoring 19 points each while forward/guard, Jair Green had 17 and guard, Ivan Robinson added 11.
The coach had nothing but positive things to say about his team.
“Obviously the future is bright for us,” McDonald said. “We have 12 guys that are either freshmen or sophomores, one senior and two juniors so we are a very young team.”
Overall, the players believe that they put their all into the game which allowed them to take the win.
“We did a lot better than we did before. Last time we played them we got blown out and everything so this time it was a lot better,” Deryl Bagwell, sophomore guard, said. “We came ready to play.”
“I think now they are starting to realize how good they can be when they play together,” McDonald said.
The Cavalier’s look to extend their winning streak to five games as they take on Summit University of Pennsylvania in a CSAC conference game on Saturday, Feb. 13. Tip off is at 3 p.m. at home in the Nerney Field House.
