By Aaron Rodenhausen
Elm Staff Writer
Last week was a big one for men’s basketball at Washington College; the Shoremen turned around their win-loss record over the course of three consecutive home games against Gallaudet University, The University of Valley Forge, and Bryn Athyn College.
WC succeeded in securing its first win of the season against the visiting Gallaudet University Bison on Nov. 12. Just over eight minutes into the first half of the game, the Shoremen were leading 10-7. Four minutes later, their lead had risen to 28-7, thanks to a barrage of scoring begun by a three-pointer from freshman guard Nolan Waldon.
The Bison managed to close the gap by a few points later in the first half, and the teams went to halftime with a score of 32-15.
Gallaudet hung onto that momentum through the opening moments of the second half, scoring six more points in the first 90 seconds.
It did not take long for the Shoremen to respond; they brought the score up to 61-30, seizing their biggest lead of the game. Gallaudet would finish out the game with 14 of the last 18 points scored but could not overcome WC’s substantial lead.
The Shoremen won comfortably with a final score of 65-44, placing 1-2 in the season. The Bison, on the other hand, fell to 0-1.
WC racked up its second win of the week against the visiting Valley Forge Patriots on Nov. 14.
The game went back and forth throughout the first half. Valley Forge led 13-9 by the 11:59 minute mark; then, on a jumper from junior forward Davis Bland, a 16-3 run by the Shoremen put WC in the lead instead. However, the Patriots pulled ahead again in the closing minutes of the half and entered the intermission with a score of 28-25.
The Patriots outscored the Shoremen for the beginning of the second half as well, getting 14 points to WC’s six in the first 7:37 minutes.
Freshman forward Ben Costello scored the first six points of a 24-7 run for the Shoremen that would turn out to be game-deciding. Freshman Anthony Seoage finished off that run with two free throws, bringing the score up to 58-46.
The game’s final score was 67-58, with the Shoremen moving up to 2-2 in the season and the Patriots falling to 3-1.
After last week’s losses, this pair of victories has been a boost for the WC team.
“I’d say the high point of last night’s game has to [have] just been the entire second half for me, because we were able to put a full game together as a team and play a full 40 minutes of [WC] basketball,” Bland said.
He also commented on the Shoremen’s plan to maintain their momentum going forward.
“We are just taking it one day at a time and just really focusing on ourselves as a team,” Bland said.
The final game of the week was against the visiting Bryn Athyn Lions on Nov. 16.
The Shoremen began the game with a 16-2 run, six points of which were scored by Waldon. The Lions scored once more before a slam-dunk by senior forward Precieux Tshibangu on a pass from freshman forward Nico Simes. By halftime, WC was up 27-15.
Tshibangu opened the second half with another dunk, this time off of a Bland pass. Both the Shoremen and the Lions took shorter runs, then the Lions sent three Shoremen to the line after fouling them.
Ultimately, the Shoremen maintained their strong lead and finished the game 61-47, now placing 3-2 in the season.
The Shoremen will need to hold on to that momentum for next week’s three away games against Penn State Abington on Nov. 19, Keystone on Nov. 22, and Marywood on Nov. 23.
Photo by Darius Kesey.
Photo Caption: The Shoremen hope to continue their winning streak at a string of games this week.