Dominican Escapes With 76-74 Victory Over Tigers

BOX SCORE


Philadelphia, Pa. - The Holy Family University men's basketball team came up short in a Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference (CACC) contest as visiting Dominican College defeated the Tigers by the score of 76-74 Saturday afternoon at the Campus Center Gym.
 
Holy Family is now 3-4 overall and begins conference play at 0-1, while Dominican improves to 6-2 overall and remains undefeated in CACC action at 3-0.
 
Holy Family nearly erased a nine-point deficit (72-63) with 2:19 to play in regulation.  The Tigers used an 11-3 run to cut the Dominican lead down to one point after junior Alberto Munoz (Morrisville, N.C./Cardinal Gibbons) scored a layup to make the score 75-74 with :21 seconds to play.
 
On the ensuing possession, Dominican made a break down court after getting past the Holy Family defense, however junior Ervin Ezell (Deptford, N.J./Deptford High) came from behind to block a layup attempt by Dominican senior Tyler Stradford to prevent the score. Ezell led all scorers with 23 points to go along with a team-best ten rebounds to record a double-double.  He also dished out five assists and made six steals.
 
The Chargers kept possession and as a result the Tigers were forced to foul with :12 seconds left on the clock.  Freshman Joe Clinton would go on to split a pair of free throws to make the score 76-74 in favor of the Chargers giving Holy Family a shot to either tie or take the lead.
 
After a timeout by the Tigers with six second left, Holy Family managed to inbound the ball but was never able to get a shot off as the Dominican defense forced a turnover as the final horn sounded to end the game.
 
Ezell led a trio of Holy Family players that scored in double-figures, including senior Angel Ayala (Allentown, Pa./William Allen) and Eric Fleming (Philadelphia, Pa./Archbishop Ryan).  Ayala came off the bench and chipped in 12 points and ten rebounds to record his first double-double of the season.  Fleming supplied the Tigers with 17 points off the bench after draining four three-pointers. 
 
For Dominican, sophomore A.J. Burton led five players that scored in double-figures for the Chargers with 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.  Senior Daniel Woods and sophomore Nick Smith each added 11 points, while senior Cory Quimby and junior Khaleev Ginyard each contributed ten points.  Quimby finished with a game-high 15 rebounds to record a double-double.
 
Holy Family is back in action on Tuesday, Dec. 4 as the Tigers travel to face cross-town rival Philadelphia University in a CACC contest.  Game time is slated for 8 p.m.
 

  - HFU -