SALEM, W.Va. (Dec. 12) - The Tigers were unable to overcome a halftime deficit in their 99-84 loss to Saint Joseph's (Ind.) Saturday night in the final game of the Joe Manchin Classic at the T. Edward Davis Gymnasium.
The loss drops the Salem International University men's basketball team to 3-7 overall, while the Pumas improve to 4-6 this season.
Junior
Conrad Etchi (Burtonsvile, Md./James H. Blake) and classmate
Parris Purcelle (Greenburgh, N.Y./Irvington) led the Tigers with 17 points, apiece, while sophomore
Saquan Epps (Upper Marlboro, Md./Frederick Douglass) chipped in 14 for the game. Junior
Lamonte Fields (Dinwiddie, Va./Dinwiddie) and junior
Victor Blakey (Suitland, Md./Friendly) each finished in double-figures with 13 and 10 points, respectively.
Salem International grabbed the Pumas attention with an alley-oop dunk off of the opening-tip by sophomore
Gerard Tarin (Fort Myers, Fla./East Lee), but Saint Joseph's followed with 16-straight points to race out to a 16-2 lead five minutes into the game.
The Tigers quickly responded with a 14-3 run over the next three minutes, including two three pointers by Fields, to pull within three points at 19-16 with 12:14 left in the first half. The Pumas never allowed Salem International to get any closer, rebuilding its lead to 13, 48-35, heading into halftime.
Saint Joseph's controlled the pace and maintained a double-digit advantage for most of the second half. Salem International inched within seven points, 89-82, with 2:37 remaining in the game on a Blakey layup, but the Pumas were successful at the charity stripe down the stretch to put the game on ice.
Salem International finished the game 31 of 78 (40 percent) from the field, compared to the 33 of 70 (47 percent) posted by Saint Joseph's. The Pumas held a 55 to 39 edge on the glass and were relatively successful breaking the Tigers full-court press. A night after forcing Ohio-Lancaster into 35 turnovers, Saint Joseph's only committed 17 against the pressure defense.
Dawson Gore led the Pumas with 22 points, while Nathan Tidwell chipped in 20 in the win.
The Tigers have two road games before the holiday break, beginning with a trip to McKendree (Ill.) on Wednesday, Dec. 16, with a tip set for 7 p.m.
MEN'S ALL-JOE MANCHIN CLASSIC TEAM:Korey Arledge (Ohio-Lancaster)
Mark Durgan (Bluefield State)
Saquan Epps (Salem International)
Conrad Etchi (Salem International)
Dawson Gore (Saint Joseph's)
MEN'S JOE MANCHIN CLASSIC MVP:Nathan Tidwell (Saint Joseph's)
