Dec. 30 – WESTERVILLE, Ohio – 14 Terriers cracked the scoring column as the Hiram College men's basketball team posted a season high for points in a 94-62 victory over Washington & Jefferson College in the second day of the Smokey Ballanger Classic.
14 of the 15 players that saw the floor tallied at least one score, marking a new season high for Hiram. Eight separate Terriers scored at least seven points, including five reserve players.
Through the first three minutes of the matchup, the Presidents (0-10) opened the game on a 10-5 run, including a pair of three-point buckets.
Trailing 17-14, the Terriers (5-6) used a 5-0 run to take their first lead of the game. Isaiah Matthews knotted the game with a three pointer, before Jeremiah Thomas gave Hiram the 19-17 advantage with 13:30 to play.
Once again behind by one point (20-19), the Terriers made their largest run of the half, outscoring the Presidents 21-8 to take their first double-digit lead (40-28). The 13-point swing took seven minutes of game time and included a five-point run from Joe Caspio which gave the Terriers the lead for good.
Junior Paul Ortiz added a pair of triples, and eight total points, to the cause, with both Kelvin Jones and Jared Butler adding four and three points, respectively.
The first-half lead would grow to as many as 13 on a layup by Thomas with 1:56 remaining, before settling on the nine-point difference at the halftime break (46-37).
Ortiz posted his eighth double-digit scoring half of the season, pacing the Terriers with 13 points in the opening 20 minutes. Both Caspio and Matthews produced key minutes off the bench, chipping in seven points, apiece, as the Terriers shot 48% from the field.
Opening the second half on a 12-4 run, Hiram pushed the lead out to 17 points with just under 15 minutes to play in the game. Jones posted five points in the run, while Ryan Greenwood, Matthews and Thomas all chipped in with a basket.
With the lead still at a comfortable 15 points (67-52), the Terriers would close the game with a 27-10 advantage over the final eight minutes, giving Hiram its largest margin of victory of the season at 94-62 (+32).
The Hiram reserves did all of the damage in the final eight minutes of the game, notching 25 of the team's final 29 points. Jake Williams posted seven points down the final stretch to lead the way, while Butler added six. Both Brevin Dye and Daniel Aultman added a pair of buckets, while Sherman Dean III canned a triple.
The Terrier reserves finished the game with 56 points, marking a new season high. Hiram's bench outscored W&J's by 35 points (56-21), led by 10 from Thomas. Butler and Matthews each finished the game with nine, with Williams and Caspio adding seven. Both Butler and Matthews' totals marked season highs.
Including bench scoring, Hiram dominated every aspect of the game. The Terriers posted a +27 rebounding margin, which included 17 offensive rebounds. The offensive caroms led to a 19-4 advantage in second-chance points, while Hiram also dominated points in the paint (46-22) and fast break points (+12).
Overall, Ortiz led the offensive output for Hiram, posting 13 points, while Kelvin Jones added 11 in just 19 minutes. Starting in his second-consecutive game, Rice tallied eight points and eight rebounds.
Hiram closes the 2016 portion of their schedule with an overall record of 5-6, including a trio of victories over non-conference opponents. The Terriers will be back in action on Saturday, January 7 when they play host to Wittenberg University. The North Coast Athletic Conference matchup is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.