MEADVILLE, Pa. – Catholic forward Jason Banzhaf turned in an MVP performance behind seven rebounds and a game-high 19 points to lead the Cardinals past Allegheny, 72-53, in the championship of the 2010 Allegheny Invitational at the David V. Wise Center on Sunday. Allegheny junior forward James Ness was selected to the All-Tournament team following the game.
The final score was not indicative of the competitive atmosphere in the arena as Allegheny was outscored by five points in the second half, including a six-point run for Catholic at the end of regulation as the Gators' pressed to lessen the deficit.
After a fairly even start, the Cardinals surged ahead of Allegheny by capitalizing on a commanding presence on the offensive glass. After freshman D'Andre Corbin drained a three to pull the Gators' within four at 15-11, the Cardinals reeled off a 9-0 run fueled by three jumpers off the hot hand of Banzhaf.
Trailing 24-11 with eight minutes left in the opening half, Ness converted a pair of strong post moves and rookie Ryan Stanko hit a three to reduce the swell to single digits. Shawn Holmes finished from beyond the arc to ignite a 7-0 run at the end of the first half as Catholic took a 37-23 lead into the break.
The Cardinals continued the torrid stretch at the start of the second half, scoring the first nine points en route to their biggest lead of the game with just under 18 minutes left on the clock (46-23). Although the lead appeared to be insurmountable, the Gators received back-to-back three's by Seth Eisner and Donte Briscoe just inside the 10-minute mark to slice the deficit to 60-46. Catholic, which is posied for an outstanding season, showed its experience by preventing Allegheny from pulling any closer.
Catholic was dominant in several areas of the game in keeping the Gators' comeback bid at bay. The first was a 46-18 advantage on points in the paint. The Cardinals were also +13 (41-28) on the glass. Although Allegheny took better care of the basketball than it did in yesterday's tournament-opening win, the Cardinals scored 24 points off Allegheny turnovers.
Corbin led the Gators with 12 points and added a team-best four assists. Corbin, who missed all three of his long-range attempts in the season opener at Bethany, drilled all five of his three-point tries over the weekend. Ness wasn't as dominant as he was against Pitt-Greensburg, but he still showcased an efficient offensive effort by closing with 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting. Briscoe led all players on the glass with nine rebounds.
In addition to MVP Banzhaf and Ness, Catholic's Dan DiVietri, Pitt-Greensburg's David Palmer, and Fredonia State's Joseph Monahan earned All-Tournament accolades.