Grant erases late deficit, beats Jacobs
Grant coach Wayne Bosworth had every reason to smile.
Bosworth's Bulldogs outscored host Jacobs 31-19 in the second half and opened up play in the Hinkle Holiday Classic with a 48-43 win over the host Eagles Saturday night in Algonquin.
"What a great way to start the tournament beating the host and 2-time defending champions," said the Grant coach. "We handled their pressure well all night, had good balanced scoring and played well on the defensive end."
The key to Grant's surge in the second half was stymieing Jacobs top scorers Matt McCoy and Jaden Henderson.
McCoy drilled three 3-pointers for 9 points and Henderson scored 8 as Jacobs (5-7) led the Bulldogs (7-5) 24-17 after 16 minutes spearheaded by an 8-0 run to end the half.
The Bulldogs put the clamps on McCoy and Henderson in the second half. McCoy scored 5 with a 3 and ended with 14. Henderson was 0-of-4 from the floor and didn't score during the final 16 minutes.
"Our concentration at halftime was doing a better job on 10 (McCoy) and 22 (Henderson) in the second half," said Bosworth. "We got out on their shooter (McCoy) and didn't give him any good looks on 3s in the second half. We did a great job of containing Henderson in the second half. It was a great defensive effort by our guys in the second half."
Grant began the third quarter with a 7-0 run to tie the score at 24 with 5:52 remaining. Hunter Waszkowski scored 5 points including a conventional 3-point play and Joe Gorden scored on a putback.
Jacobs' first points of the second half came on McCoy's fourth and final 3 of the night to give the hosts a 27-24 advantage with 4:22 left.
Spearheaded by 9 points from Waszkowski, Grant outscored Jacobs 18-8 in the third quarter and led 35-32 after 3 quarters.
Paced by 4 points from sophomore guard Jimmy Hayes, Jacobs started the fourth quarter on an 11-4 run.
A 15-footer from Andrew Balkcom gave the Eagles a 43-39 lead with 3:06 remaining in the contest.
Balkcom's basket was Jacobs' final points of the game as Grant scored the final 9 points including a 4-of-4 effort from the free-throw line by Gorden.
Waszkowski led the Bulldogs with 17 points and 6 rebounds.
"Coach Bosworth told us at halftime we had to do a better job on defense in the second half," said Waszkowski. "We played with more confidence and played with more intensity. My teammates were able to get the ball to me in better position to score all night."
Torren Grana Curry added 10 for the winners.
Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts was disappointed with the loss.
"For the third time in four games, we didn't do winning things to win games," said Roberts. "We had breakdowns at crucial times and shut ourselves down."