Hampshire goes inside to beat Dundee-Crown

Hampshire coach Bob Barnett was just looking for his team to get the ball down low.

Dundee-Crown had used an 18-0 run during the late first/early second quarter to go up 18-13 and Barnett was looking for his inside game. The Whip-Purs responded by giving up just 19 points over the next 20 minutes, 35 seconds to take a 52-37 victory in the opening round of the Leland G. Strombom Boys Basketball Tournament at Sycamore.

"We didn't get anything inside," Barnett said. "When I called a timeout (after the 18-0 run) I told them we had to get the ball inside."

Sophomore forward Tyler Watzlawick scored 8 of his 12 points in the third quarter. His first basket came immediately after Barnett's timeout to bring the Whips (1-0) back to 18-15 with 4:17 left in the first half. His 8 third-quarter points allowed Hampshire to outscore Dundee-Crown (0-1) 17-3 in the third period and take a 38-28 advantage into the fourth quarter.

"If we didn't outscore them in the third quarter, it wouldn't be good," Hampshire senior Justin Bieber said. "I shot a lot (at first) then we went inside and the defense fell out."

Bieber scored 9 points in the first quarter off three 3-pointers to put Hampshire up 13-0 with 2:17 left in the first quarter. But the lack of an inside game allowed the Chargers' defense to focus the attention on the outside and Beiber would not score again in the first half.

After Watzlawick scored 5 straight points to open the second half, Beiber drew a foul and sank both free throws and then nailed a 3-pointer to put Hampshire up 31-27. He finished with a game-high 18 points. The inside game also helped Hampshire shoot 69.2 percent (9 of 13) from the floor in the second half and 54.8 percent (17 of 31) in the game.

Hampshire also used its size to achieve a 28-12 advantage on the boards, led by 6 from center Sarwan Khan.

Dundee-Crown struggled shooting the ball outside of its 18-0 run. The Chargers went 1 of 8 from the floor in the third quarter and finished 25 percent (4 of 16) from the floor in the second half. The Chargers went 63.6 percent (7 of 11) in the second quarter. Ryan Smith finished with a team-high 9 points to go along with 2 steals and 2 assists.

"The 18-0 run was a nice stretch and a good confidence boost," Dundee-Crown coach Lance Huber said. "But we have to sustain it."