Sloppy performance costs Allegany College in 86-67 loss to Howard

Feb. 5—CUMBERLAND — Allegany College played one of its sloppier games of the season on Saturday afternoon, losing 86-67 to Howard at Bob Kirk Arena.

"It was a lot like the first half of the Garrett game," Allegany head coach Tommie Reams said. "We lacked the physical and mental toughness that it takes to succeed at a high level."

The Dragons (16-5, 11-2 NJCAA Region 20) took the lead midway through the first half and held it the remainder of the game. The Trojans (15-10, 8-5 NJCAA Region 20) made several mistakes on both ends of the floor.

"Lack of discipline, we didn't execute offensively," Reams said. "We talked about how we wanted to attack their 1-2-2 zone and 1-3-1 zone. We didn't do a good job of attacking the seams. Once we got into the paint, we weren't strong with the basketball."

Trailing 10-5 with 14:32 left in the first half, Howard went on a 8-4 run to make it a one-point game. The Dragons started to pull away midway through the half, led by Marquis Freeman.

"In the first half, we did a better job defensively in transition," Reams said. "In the fist half, we were better on the defensive glass. I thought in the second half when Howard was able to pull away, defensive transition was not existent."

Freeman scored 14 points in the first half and hit four 3-pointers. Howard ended on a 9-5 run to lead 41-35 at halftime.

Allegany opened the game very sloppy with several turnovers and missed shots, committing 11 turnovers in the first half. Allegany shot 6 for 18 from 2-point range and 7 for 14 from deep.

"Shot selection to open the game I thought was pretty mediocre," Reams said. "I thought we settled at times, part of that is built out of the lack of discipline. We didn't get to our screens, we didn't get the ball to our open spots."

Tyson Oghene led Allegany offensively in the first half, scoring 15 points on five 3-pointers. He finished with 22 points including six made 3s and four rebounds.

"Tyson is Tyson," Reams said. "He finds his spots, he's got that quick release. He can shoot it, if we get him open looks he's gonna hit. We gotta do a better job of getting him the ball early."

The sloppy play continued in the second half for the Trojans as they were outscored 9-2 to open the half. The Dragons continued to build their lead, and with 10:29 left led 66-46.

Allegany committed eight turnovers in the second half with several coming on inbounds plays including an attempted long court pass that hit the ceiling.

"We didn't come out with the aggression we wanted," Reams said. "Early in the second half, we played with a little more tempo. Then we kinda went into a lull. We started walking up the ball, we started slowing the pace which is not the game plan."

The Trojans found some offensive success midway through the half. Allegany went on a six-minute run where it was outscored 10-9.

"No silver linings in this one," Reams said. "I told our guys, we want to play the game a specific way. We want to play fast, we want to play hard. What's the difference between losing by 30 and losing by one. A loss is a loss, it doesn't matter what the scoreboard says."

Dalyn Brandon led the Trojans on both ends in the second half. He scored 11 points with five steals and had two assists and a block.

Brandon finished with 17 points, seven rebounds and four steals. Tekao Carpenter also scored 17 points with five rebounds and four steals.

"He gave us consistent effort tonight," Reams said of Brandon. "He got to the rim, he attacked the paint really well. Unfortunately, the jump shot wasn't going for him tonight. That's basketball, but I'm glad he didn't hang his head. He gave us consistent effort, which is why I left him on the floor for so long."

Freeman led Howard with 21 points while Ben Murphy scored 16. Jalen Bowie scored 13 and Andrew Mills had 12.

After the game, Reams spent about 30 minutes talking to his team in the locker room. The Trojans have lost their last three games, the last two both featured several mistakes on both ends.

"Guys gotta take it to heart, guys gotta soul search a little bit," Reams said of his postgame message. "Guys gotta figure out what they really want. Do you wanna compete at the highest level, because if you do there's a price to pay. You don't get to live the normal life of an 18-19 year old when you're trying to be a college athlete."

Howard is at Montgomery on Wednesday at 8 p.m. Allegany faces Cecil at Bob Kirk Arena on Wednesday at 7 p.m.

"They are gonna be extremely tough, they're gonna be extremely physical. If I'm Cecil after watching this one, I'm gonna go zone. They're gonna come to play, we're gonna have our hands full if we don't make the adjustments."

Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Follow him on Twitter @JKendallCTN.