Before tipoff of Thursday afternoon's game against Rocky Mountain College, head coach Gordon Stubblefield told his team that if they could crash the boards and control the tempo of the game, they would have a real shot at pulling out a win.
Winning the battle on the boards was a tall order for the Buccaneers as they were missing their two primary bigs- Tyson Beringer Jr. and Craig Mueller (ankle)- due to injuries and the Bucs fell 68-56 on day one of the Cactus Classic.
Their mission became even harder to accomplish when the team's leading rebounder, Erik Palmer, picked up his third foul early in the second half and was forced to sit. That was when the tables turned in the Battlin' Bears' favor.
The Buccaneers led by as many as seven in the first half and took a two-point lead into the halftime break, but with Palmer out of the game, the Battlin' Bears capitalized by turning offensive rebounds into second-chance points; the Bucs were out-rebounded 37-33 overall, but 17-8 on the offensive glass. The Battlin' Bears turned that into 14 second-chance points, doubling the Bucs' total, which catapulted them to a 29-7 run and their largest lead of the game of 19 points.
Despite navigating foul trouble, Palmer finished the game with 10 points, seven rebounds and two steals. Dante Aganmwonyi played a team-high 27 minutes and grabbed a career-high nine rebounds to go along with six points.
After missing the team's win over SAGU-AIC on Dec. 2, Trail Bates returned to the hardwood and scored a team-high 12 points (4-8), plus five rebounds a steal. In an effort to get some size into his lineup, Stubblefield called up 6-7 freshman Zrebric Humphrey; he played 14 minutes in his collegiate debut, grabbed five rebounds and drilled his only shot- a three-pointer from the wing in the first half.
With the loss, the Buccaneers are now 3-9 on the season. They have a quick turnaround with a home game scheduled for tomorrow against Goshen College at 8 p.m. at The PHHacility. After that, they return to the Cactus Classic on Sunday for a matchup against Montana-Western; that game is scheduled for 7 p.m. at Chandler-Gilbert Community College.
Notes:
DJ McNeal started at point guard, marking the first time this season that Kelton Williams did not get the nod. McNeal played two minutes before he was subbed for Williams, but finished with seven points in 14 minutes
Kelton Williams tied his career high with six assists
The Buccaneers are now 1-1 all-time against Rocky Mountain College; their last meeting was a win on Dec. 17, 2019
