Highlanders Comeback Falls Short
(Houghton,
N.Y.)—The Houghton College men’s team cut an 18-point deficit
late in the first half to just one point with ten minutes to go
against the Daemen Wildcats Tuesday night, only to have their
comeback bid fall short, 65-62.
The Wildcats had steadily pulled away
from the Highlanders in the first half, building a lead of five
points at the five-minute mark then 10 points halfway through
and finally to an 18-point edge with 1:32 left until the break.
That’s when the Highlanders came to
life with an 8-2 run to cut the deficit to 43-31 at the half.
As steadily as the Wildcats had built
the lead in the first half, the Highlanders chipped away at it
in the second, until they trailed just 51-50 with 9:46 left to
go. The Wildcats stiffened on defense and rebuilt the lead to
seven (61-54) with 3:09 left.
The Highlanders weren’t done. Twice
they trimmed the lead back to three and twice the Wildcats
answered to make it five.
In the final 40 seconds the Highlanders
cut the margin from five to three a third time, got a break when
the Wildcats missed the front end of a one-and-one, and had the
ball for a last-second three-point attempt, but it rattled off
the rim.
Yannick Anzuluni put up a double-double
again for the Highlanders—his 14th of the year—with
15 points and 13 rebounds. It was Mada Abdelhamid, though, who
led all scorers with 23, shooting 11-14 from the field.
The loss drops Houghton to 7-18. The
Highlanders close out their season on the road Saturday,
February 23, against Malone College at 7:30 p.m.
Photo: Ben Kopp gets two of his
five points Tuesday night.
