OREM, Utah (March 10, 2010) – Junior Antonio Lofton (Chicago, IL/Parkland College) (Chicago, Ill.) recorded his first NCAA Division I double-double as he posted season highs of 22 points and 14 rebounds, but seventh-seeded Chicago State fell to second-seeded Houston Baptist, 80-77, Wednesday night in the quarterfinals of the inaugural Great West Conference Men's Basketball Tournament at the UVU Events Center.
The Cougars were the aggressors early in the game as they posted a 7-2 lead in the first three minutes that ended with a driving layup from junior Christian Wall (New Orleans, LA/John Ehret) (New Orleans, La.) at the 16:49 mark.
HBU scored a 7-2 run of its own in a three-plus minute span to even the score at 9-9 before the Green and White posted another 7-2 run with five points coming from sophomore Kabangu Tshinga Kasamba (St. Catherine's, ONT/St. Francis) (St. Catherine's Ont.) over four minutes to regain the lead at 16-11 with 11:24 remaining. A 16-6 run over a 6:17 span gave CSU its biggest lead at 32-22 at the 3:35 mark with Lofton scoring six points during that stretch. The Huskies scored seven of the half's final nine points to head into halftime with the Cougars ahead by a 34-29 margin.
HBU opened the second half with five unanswered points in 1:36 to even the score at 34-34 after senior Mario Flaherty scored on a layup at the 18:24 mark. The Green and White responded by scoring six of the next eight points in nearly three minutes to regain the lead at 40-36 with 15:47 left in the game after junior Carl Montgomery (Chicago, IL/Shepard) (Chicago, Ill.) provided the highlight of the game with a thunderous tip dunk off an offensive rebound.
A 15-6 run by the Huskies over a five-plus minutes broke a 55-all tie that included seven points from senior Wendell Preadom to give them a 70-61 lead with 1:59 remaining. CSU used a 13-8 scoring drive in the final 1:52 to close within 78-77 after draining a three with seven seconds left, but junior Fred Hinnenkamp scored on a layup at the four-second mark for the final margin.
“In order to win we knew we were going to have to play well for 40 minutes and we showed spurts. We got beat by a better team tonight and their seniors made big plays. We made some mistakes that hopefully we'll be able to turn the tables on next year and we'll be on the receiving end of a victory,” Cougars head coach Benjy Taylor said after the game. “We have got to learn on how to make plays down the stretch and play better.”
Montgomery added 18 points and two blocked shots while shooting 9-of-18 from the field for Chicago State, while Wall contributed 12 points.
Preadom led Houston Baptist by tying Lofton for game high scoring honors with 22 points. Gonzalez tallied 18 points, seven rebounds and two blocks, while Hinnenkamp posted 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting. Flaherty finished with 12 points on the night.
Chicago State concluded the season with a 9-23 overall record.
~CSU~
