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Final
83
Valley Forge University VFU 0-5
87
Winner Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR 2-3
Valley Forge University VFU
0-5
83
Final
87
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR
2-3
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 F
Valley Forge University VFU 20 63 83
Medgar Evers Cougars MEDGAR 40 47 87

Game Recap: Men's Basketball |

Cougars put on efficiency clinic, shooting 52.6 percent from the field in much-needed victory over Patriots

The Medgar Evers men's basketball team picked up a key victory on Saturday afternoon, turning back the Patriots of the University of Valley Forge by a score of 87-83. The contest took place at the Cougars Cave in Brooklyn, NY. With the victory, the Cougars improved their record to 2-3 on the 2023-2024 campaign, while the Patriots are still searching for their first triumph, falling to 0-5.

In the victory for the Cougars, senior veteran Dante Simmons came up big for his squad, registering team-highs of 18 points and seven rebounds while also tallying a pair of steals in 28 minutes of action. Joshua Jean Pierre finished with 16 points, three rebounds, and three assists, and newcomer Nicholas Guillen netted 13 points while snatching three rebounds and adding three dimes. Michael Perez connected on seven of eight shots from the charity stripe, finalizing his afternoon with 12 points and three boards. Andre Evans Jr. made his return after missing one game due to injury, scoring 11 points, tying for the game-high six assists, grabbing six boards, and swiping a pair of steals. And finally, Nicholas Bocharov put forth a fine all-around effort, draining three shots from downtown, finishing with nine points and three rebounds to go along with three assists and a block, the first swatted shot of his career.

Despite the loss for Valley Forge University, the Patriots were paced by the stellar effort of Dashawn Goodine, as he scored a game-high 24 points, connecting on nine of his 15 attempts from the floor. He also added three rebounds, three assists, and two steals. Jason Bontemps added 16 points (4-7 from downtown), four rebounds, and a game-high three steals, and Nasir Bernard added 12 points while tying for the game-high of eight rebounds. Ty Bates finished with 11 points, and Jeremiah Daye finalized his evening with nine points, eight boards, two assists, and a pair of swatted shots.

Medgar Evers College led the game from start to finish, but the victory didn't come without some drama late. In the early stages of the game, it was all Cougars, with the hosts racing out to a commanding 16-2 lead in the first 6:39 of action. Guillen accounted for eight of those opening 16 points, with Jean-Pierre adding six, and Simmons netting two. Medgar Evers gradually built its lead, outscoring the Patriots 24-16 over a span of 12:48 to take its biggest advantage of the season, a 22-point edge, 40-18. A Perez trifecta capped that spurt for the home team. Valley Forge's Goodine converted on a layup just before the halftime buzzer, and so the Cougars held a 40-20 lead after 20 minutes of action.

The Cougars seemed to be in solid control of the game, holding a 53-37 edge with 14:26 remaining. From there, though, Valley Forge would begin to surge. Over the next 9:57 of action, the Patriots outscored the Cougars 33-20 to pull to within three points, 73-70, with 4:29 remaining. After both squads came up empty on their next possessions, Simmons would drill a huge triple to put Medgar Evers back up six, 76-70, with 3:30 remaining in the contest.

Later, with the Cougars holding a seven-point edge (82-75) with 1:40 left, Valley Forge's Bontemps would drain a three-point basket, making it 82-78. On the Cougars' ensuing possession, Perez would draw a foul and would proceed to convert on a pair of free throws to put his squad up 84-78 with 1:16 left.

Over the next 51 seconds, the Cougars would commit a turnover and misfire on its only shot attempt, while the Patriots scored five straight points to inch to within a point at 84-83. After a Patriots timeout with 25 seconds to go, the University of Valley Forge had an opportunity to snatch its first lead of the game, but Jeremiah Daye would misfire on a shot, and the rebound was collected by Simmons. That would be the last-gasp chance for the Patriots, as the Cougars converted of three out of four free throws inside the final seconds, and the University of Valley Forge would fail to score again. The Cougars, despite dealing with some adversity (Guillen and Jean-Pierre fouling out in the second half), overcame it and picked up a much-needed win.

The Cougars were excellent shooting the basketball in all forms on Saturday, hitting on 30 of their 57 shots (52.6 percent), including a 47.1 percent conversion rate from downtown (8-17). Medgar Evers also shot 76 percent from the line, draining 19 of its 25 attempts from the charity stripe. On the flip side, while Valley Forge did shoot better in the second half, the Patriots struggled throughout the contest. Valley Forge shot 37.8 percent from the floor (28-74), hitting on just 28 percent of its three-point attempts (7-25).

Medgar Evers won the game despite being out-rebounded 41-34, and committing more turnovers (29) then the Patriots did (21). The Cougars did move the ball incredibly well, piling 26 assists compared to 16 for the visitors, and Medgar Evers held a 6-3 edge in the swatted shots column. Valley Forge did compile more steals, registering 17 while the Cougars finished with eight.

The Cougars will now have nine days of rest, and will return to the court following the Thanksgiving weekend, as Medgar Evers will welcome FDU-Florham to the Cougars Cave on Tuesday evening, November 28. Start-time for that non-conference clash is scheduled for 7:00pm.
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