WILMINGTON – Wilmington opened its boys hoops campaign with an 82-69 victory over Cleveland Heights in the nightcap Friday of the Ohio Valley Hoops Classic at Wilmington College.
University of Cincinnati signee Jarron Cumberland poured in 37 points and snatched 12 rebounds, breaking the Classic scoring record of 35 points he set in last year’s inaugural event.
“The stats don’t lie,” Wilmington head coach Mike Noszka said. “We expect him to be the best player on the floor every night, no matter who we play.”
Chris Wolary and Dylan Beaugard narrowly missed double-doubles for the Hurricane. Wolary had 18 points and nine rebounds while Beaugard had nine points and nine assists.
“We have big expectations for Chris. He was outstanding. He really finished around the rim. He was really poised,” Noszka said. “Dylan was (banged) up. Nine out of 10 high school players would be done. I thought I might have to shut him down myself.
“We’re minus (Cameron) Stewart and (Alex) Miller. A lot of our guys had to gut it out tonight. Everybody stepped up. Matt Creditt stepped in and really played well tonight. Jeff Mansfield stepped in and played really well tonight. Nick Morris gave us a lot of energy.”
Five Tigers reached double-figures, led by University of North Carolina-Asheville-bound Malik Smith with 15 points. Jalen Harris, who has attracted attention as a gridiron standout from Ohio State and Alabama, had 11. Yahel Hill added 14 and Grayson Green and Chaz Hardin had 10 each.
The Hurricane led most the way, except for 26 seconds of the second quarter when the Tigers led 22-21 and 25-23.
Cumberland gave Wilmington the lead for good with an NBA three, which started an 18-4 run that would give Wilmington its biggest cushion of the first half, 41-29 with 28 seconds left.
Cleveland Heights wouldn’t get closer than six points the rest of the evening. The Tigers did so on five different occasions, the latest being with 3:35 left in the game after they whittled Wilmington’s 59-43 third-quarter lead to 67-61.
Cumberland’s second dunk of the game, a thunderous one-handed jam, and another bucket sandwiched around a pair of Matt Creditt free throws quickly doubled Wilmington’s margin to 73-61 with 2:26 left in the contest.
“We never folded when they put pressure on us,” Noszka said. “We were able to gut it out. All seven of those guys who played showed a lot of Hurricane pride.”
The Hurricane, led by Cumberland’s 9-of-10 free throw shooting down the stretch, salted away the game at the line.
SUMMARY
Nov 27, 2015
@Wilmington College
Ohio Valley Hoops Classic
Wilmington 82 Cleveland Heights 69
WL 17.24.20.21…..82
CH 13.20.17.19…..69
(82) WILMINGTON (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Morris 0-0-0-0 Beaugard 2-0-5-9 Creditt 2-0-2-6 Jar Cumberland 12-1-12-37 Woalry 9-0-0-18 Griffith 0-0-0-0 Wright 0-0-0-0 Smith 4-0-0-8 Mansfield 1-0-2-4. TOTALS 30-1-21-82
(69) CLEVELAND HEIGHTS (fg-3fg-ft-tp) Petit 0-0-0-0 Hardin 4-2-0-10 Hill 5-1-3-14 Harris 5-0-1-11 M Smith 6-3-0-15 T Smith 3-0-0-6 Roberts 0-0-0-0 Summers 1-1-0-3 Miller 0-0-0-0 Green 5-0-0-10. TOTALS 29-7-4-69
FIELD GOALS: W 30-63 (Cumberland 12-27, Wolary 9-15, Smith 4-6) CH 29-60 (M Smith 6-11)
3 PT FIELD GOALS: W 1-14 (Cumberland 1-7) CH 7-15 (M Smith 3-7)
FREE THROWS: W 21-28 (Cumberland 12-17, Beaugard 5-6)
REBOUNDS: W-35 (Cumberland 12, Wolary 9 Creditt 3, Mansfield 3, Beaugard 2). CH-36 (Harris 11, M Smith 6, Green 5)
ASSISTS: W-15 (Beaugard 9, Cumberland 4, Creditt 2) CH-12 (Green 3, Hill 3)
STEALS: W-14 (Beaugard 4, Creditt 3, Cumberland 3, Smith 2) CH-6 (Hardin 3)
BLOCKED SHOTS: W-1 (Cumberland 1) CH-4 (Harris 3)
TURNOVERS: W-11 CH-22
