East Aurora quiets Marmion

A Bobby Knight credo was the first five minutes of the second half are pivotal in a close basketball game.

Marmion coach Rashon Burno said the same thing on Wednesday. He was right.

Trouble was, visiting East Aurora controlled those first five minutes, and the Tomcats turned a 1-point halftime lead into a 53-39 nonconference victory.

East Aurora's Latrell "Snoop" Viser blocked Marmion's first 2 shots coming out of halftime and the Cadets turned the ball over twice in the first 2:15 of the quarter.

East Aurora (14-9) went up 34-23 after leading 24-23 at the half - and needing three 3's by 5-foot-4 Brandon Oliver to do that.

Marmion (16-8) pulled within 42-33 early in the fourth quarter on a 3-pointer by forward Mark Peters, but that's as close as the Cadets came.

"That three-minute stretch cost us big," Burno said. "So now we're playing catch-up - and you don't play catch-up with guards like that because you've got to be selective on how you pressure them because they can get by you and cause havoc."

Tomcats guards Viser and Ryan Boatright - a Virginia Tech rep was in Marmion's stands scouting the lightning-quick Boatright, who led East with 15 points to Viser's 10 - certainly caused their share including a Viser dunk that impressed even Marmion's student section.

East Aurora coach Wendell Jeffries thought the less heralded duo of forwards Tramell Weathersby and Keenan McGhee played a big part as well. Each was hit with 2 first-quarter fouls and sat the rest of the first half, then returned to fluster Peters, who split his 12 points between halves.

"Peters had played the whole first half," Jeffries said. "(Weathersby) was a little disappointed, he wanted me to gamble with him with 2 fouls in the first half, but I told him the game would be won in the second half and Peters had played the whole first half. (Weathersby) was fresh. In the third quarter we crushed them on the boards." By an 11-2 margin, and 33-19 for the game led by Boatright's 8. Another issue was the shooting by Marmion, which saw its seven-game winning streak end.

Burno said the Cadets shoot nearly 49 percent at home, but their 14-of-39 from the floor Wednesday translated to 36 percent.

East Aurora's quickness can hurt teams on both ends of the floor.

"The first half I thought we did a good job containing them, keeping them outside the 3, make them work," said Marmion guard Greg Askwith, who made three 3's and scored 11 points. "The second half they were a little bit more on the offense, attacking."