Jan. 28, 2006
Box Score
ASTON, PA- Neumann hosted the Knights of Arcadia Saturday afternoon in an attempt to add a win to their 7-10, 6-4 PAC record.
Neumann started out the first half with a 3-pointer from Elisha Hannibal off a pass from Ely Hitchens. Arcadia put up its first points of the game with 2 shots made by Sterling Green. Greg Cunningham sunk a 3-pointer off another pass from Hannibal to put Neumann ahead, 6-4. Arcadia's Stuart Slattery put up two 3-pointers himself, and Arcadia took a lead of 7 points over Neumann after 2 more points from Bobby Mulholland. The most damage was done during a Neumann scoring streak, when Ely Hitchens, Greg Cunningham, James Swigget, and Mike Hitchens combined for 12 back-to-back points, taking the lead once again. The Knights went into the half leading over Arcadia, 26-21.
Entering the second half, Neumann's consistent scoring from Ely Hitchens, Elisha Hannibal, and Ronnie Fields gave them a comfortable lead. But Arcadia was able to tie it up in the last minute of the game. With only seconds left on the clock, Elisha Hannibal took an in bounds ball and snuck in for the lay-up, putting the Knights ahead one point for the win and a final score of 42-21.
"We needed this one," said Coach Brian Nugent. "Today's win put us in 4th place and Monday we play Wesley for a shot at 3rd place. We really want that home court advantage coming into the play-offs."
"We were all very frustrated with the last few minutes of the game. Arcadia took us out of our offense. Without Andre (Wright) playing, that's like 15 points we needed to recover, so we stepped up as a team. The last minutes of the game were mostly individual efforts, though. There was no set play. Elisha (Hannibal) got the ball in bounds, and I just told him to get to the basket, and he did," said Nugent.
The Knights will return to PAC action on Monday, January 30th against Wesley College.
