Night 1 Recaps:
Ohio at San Diego State:
Despite the 6 point half-time lead the Bobcats weren't able to pull off the win on the road. Ohio's senior power forward, Brent Hayes, had 8 first half points, but only was able to muster 2 2nd half points. True freshman, Christopher Helton, was tasked with the responsibility of stopping the Ohio big man. "Helton did a phenomenal job on Hayes in the 2nd half. I was very pleased with his performance, especially as a freshman," said SDSU coach bk41129. The contest was back and forth early but the Bobcats seemed to be pulling away at the start of the 2nd half. Ohio had a 13 point lead (the game's biggest lead) coming at the 14:38 mark off of a jump hook by Leonard Totten. However, the Aztecs rallied quickly by going on a 8-0 run in the span of a minute. San Diego State finally took the lead with a Christopher Gerald 3 with 6 minutes to go. The game was back and forth the rest of the way. With 22 seconds to go, Ohio down 2 (61-63), the Bobcats got a huge stop and quickly transitioned down the floor. With 14 seconds on the clock, Leonard Totten hit a pull-up jumper to tie the ball game at 63 a piece. This didn't seem to phase the Aztecs as they quickly pushed the ball down the floor. All eyes were on point guard, Christopher Gerald, who had been lighting it up to that point with 22 points. Instead, Gerald found an open teammate, Bradley Corchado, who nailed the game-winning jumpshot with 5 seconds on the clock. Ohio called a TO and set up a play for their big guy, Brent Hayes. The Bobcats got the look they wanted, but Hayes was unable to hit the floater near the basket.
SDSU 65, Ohio 63
Player of the Game:
Christopher Gerald (Senior PG)
Gerald finished with 22 points, 18 of which came from 3's (6-13). Gerald also had 4 rebounds and 2 assists, including the game winning assist.
Vanderbilt at Notre Dame:
This game ended up being the game of the night after a closely fought overtime battle between the two squads. Big time recruit, Sean Hassel, stepped up and led his team to the W. Despite just being a freshman, the small forward went off for
23 points and 8 rebounds. The Irish were in desperate need of his play. Notre Dame trailed the Commodores by 4 at half. The contest was back and forth the whole way. No team really pulling away from the other. After two made free throws by Notre Dame's Michael Gorman, Vanderbilt was down 3 with 11 seconds to go. Vanderbilt's leader, Gregory Carey, was having a rough shooting night heading into the final seconds of regulation. Carey didn't let his off night stop him. The senior nailed a 3 point shot from the left corner to tie with 5 seconds remaining. The Irish had a shot to end it into overtime, but the attempt was swatted away by Vanderbilt freshman, Jeffrey Cullum. This sent the game into OT. The Commodores seemed to have all the momentum heading into OT, but Notre Dame was able to hit just enough free throws to finish the deal. Sean Hassel had 5 points in OT to lead his team to the win. The Irish struggled at the line, shooting 58% (17-29) which almost cost them the victory. Nonetheless, the Irish start off 1-0 in tournament play with a 66-62 victory over Vanderbilt.
ND 66, Vanderbilt 62
Player of the game:
Sean Hassel (Freshman SF)
The highly recruited freshman from Tolono, IL was huge in the Irish's win over Vanderbilt. Hassel may be a guy Notre Dame will have to go to for scoring. Hassel finished the game with 23 points, 8 rebounds, and 3 assists. He scored 5 of his teams 6 in OT to get the win.
2/3/2017 2:35 PM (edited)