Feb. 24, 2009

Final Stats

The Racers stepped onto the court on Tuesday night making history for the UNOH Racers Men's Basketball program. It was the first time ever that UNOH would compete in postseason play. The Racers had the luxury of playing host to Daemen College (NY) as they steamrolled the Wildcats by a final of 100-81.

UNOH and Daemen met earlier this month in Amherst, NY as the Racers left town with a 70-69 victory. It was a crucial one as it solidified the Racers as the #3 seed in the AMC tournament. The Wildcats squeaked in by tie-breaker as they earned the #6 seed, with the winner traveling to #2 seed Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Saturday.

The Racers gave up the first basket of the game, only to grab the lead in the next possession, and to their liking, never surrendered it from there. The Racers used an 8-0 run that was capped off at the 12:17 mark in the first half to extend their lead to 10.

The Racers continued their 57% shooting in the first half as they extended the lead out to 18 as they entered the break with a lead of 49-31. The Racers were 14-15 from the free throw line in the half.

The Racers opened the second half the way they played the first half as they found themselves up 27 with 14:40 left in their first round game. Daemen would not give up on their season as they cut the Racer lead down to 14 with 8:06 left in the game. The Racers quickly squashed that effort as they pushed the lead back to 21 ith 4:36 left in the game.

A major milestone happened with 3:02 left in the game, as Junior Josh Vorst scored on a breakaway layup. In a game with a 20 point lead, it didn't seem to matter, but to the Racer record books it will forever be remembered as Vorst enters the 1,000 point club for Racer Basketball. Vorst is the first player to reach the scoring mark in a career at UNOH. With a year of eligilibility left at UNOH, Vorst will look to set the career scoring marks at a high level.

After Vorst entered the record books, it was time to put the finishing touches on Daemen as UNOH reached their next milestone of the season, the Racers reached 100 points for the first time this year. The Racers downed Daemen 100-81. The win is the first postseason victory for any Racer athletic team.

Leading the way for the Racers was Sophomore Kyle Gillette who recorded a double-double with 23 points and 13 rebounds. Gillette also hit 9 of 10 free throws on the night. Senior Jason Sarno and Josh Vorst each tallied 21 points on the night. Sophomore Isaac Bowers reached double figures with 12 points.

With the win, the Racers double their win total from last season as they move to 18-13. The Racers will advance in the tournament to face the #2 seed Mt. Vernon Nazarene on Saturday evening, February 28th at 7:30 pm. It will be the third meeting this season as they split the season series.