Germantown says Auff Wiedersehen to tired HCC

January 25, 2007|by JACK HILL III / Staff Correspondent

With a depleted squad, Hagerstown Community College just ran out of gas against visiting Montgomery College-Germantown on Wednesday night in their Maryland JuCo Conference men's basketball game.

The Hawks, who only have seven of their original 14 players left on the team, fell 81-74 to the Gryphons.

HCC coach Kenny Keyes said three of the four players lost to grades have a chance to rejoin the team if their grades improve.

They needed them Wednesday night.

"We played well, but we got tired," said Keyes, whose team took its final lead at 45-44 with 15 minutes remaining in the second half. "We only had seven players. We made 23 turnovers and that was the whole game in a nutshell. That comes from being exhausted and playing so many minutes. Those guys aren't used to playing so many minutes. A few of the players were barely getting minutes at the beginning of the season. Now, they are getting a lot of minutes."

Germantown, which led 76-63 with 2:30 left, had five players score in double figures. Jacquez Lindsey had a team-high 17 points for the Gryphons (13-7, 9-3), while Tariq Ugdah scored 14, Jamarl Glen 13, Darshawn Johnson 12 and Malcolm Jay 11.

"It was a good road victory," Germantown coach Xavier Joyner said. "We played very sluggish. You definitely have got to get the wins on the road when you can get them. The key to the victory was definitely free throws down the stretch. We had not been making them down the stretch. Another key was us going inside their zone. Once the inside of the game started to roll, then the outside of the game started to pick up."

Tommy Cox had 27 points and nine rebounds, while Marquis Waters added 13 points, 12 assists and four steals for HCC (4-14, 2-8). Leon Nelson had 12 points, 13 rebounds and three blocked shots, John Long added 12 points and 12 rebounds and Robert Wescott had five assists for the Hawks.

HCC recently added an eighth player in 6-foot-5 freshman Matt Rhodes. But the Hawks only had seven players available on Wednesday, because sophomore guard Scott Spence was out with a stomach virus.

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