Poor second-half shooting and turnovers the downfall for Mounties in loss to St.Thomas
The Mount Allison Mounties men’s basketball team lost to the Saint Thomas Tommies at home on Saturday, Jan. 23. The final score was 75-64 to the Tommies in a game which Mt. A led by double digits in the first half. Both teams got off to a slow start but Mt. A found their groove first, getting to the line regularly. In the first half, the Mounties made 8-12 free throws, with the Tommies making only 1-3. The Mounties then let their large lead slip and the Tommies slowly chipped away at the deficit as the second half approached, eventually being only down three by halftime. The Tommies started the second half as they ended the first, making shots and the Mounties paid for numerous turnovers. The excellent play of Tommies point guard Dylan Gallant drove his team to victory. The Mounties could not contain him, en route to 28 points and nine rebounds.
This game was very different from these two teams’ previous meeting, when Mt. A won 100-94. In the previous game, Mt. A’s Bradley Fuller scored 41 points. In Saturday’s game, however, Fuller managed to net only eight points. One of the lone bright players for the Mounties was Alex Chisholm, who scored 21 points, while shooting 50 per cent from the floor, including 3-4 from- three-point range. Jeshua Becker also played well, scoring 12 points off the bench, on 3-4 shooting, and scoring a perfect 6-6 from the foul line, in 19 minutes of action.
This game certainly was a tale of two halves. The first half was highly competitive, in which Mt. A seemed to have control. The second half, however, was a different story. The Mounties shot a mere 30.8 per cent in the second half and finished the game with seven more turnovers than assists.
The Mounties remain winless in the 2016 calendar year, with an overall record of 4-7 on the season. They will look to regain their form in their next game and get back to winning ways against Holland College, at home on Wednesday, Jan. 27.
