OWINGS MILLS, Md. - The Hood College men's basketball team led by as many as 18 points but held off a late run by Stevenson for an 84-82 win in the Middle Atlantic Conference Commonwealth opener for both teams. 

Inside the Box Score

• Mason Wang scored a season-high 26 points on 8-of-13 from the field and 10-of-13 at the free throw line. The senior led the Blazers with six rebounds and four steals in the game. 
• Christopher Smalls stayed hot, hitting 3-for-6 from 3-point range and finishing with 15 points. Over the last three games, he is shooting 57 percent from behind the arc.
• Soren Almquist, Bryce Butler and Trumaine Strickland scored 10 points apiece. 
• Evan Wang paced Hood with five assists. 

How it Happened

• Hood used a 14-5 lead early in the second half to turn a nine-point lead into a 60-42 advantage with 12:53 remaining. Almquist and Strickland scored five points apiece in the run as the Blazers went 5-for-6 shooting over the span of 3:30. 
• Stevenson caught fire after that, hitting 12-of-17 over the next 12 minutes, while Hood went cold, hitting just four field goals over the same stretch. Bo Wesley and Khalil Richard combined for 17 points during the 32-17 run, with a Richard 3-pointer cutting the Blazers' lead to just 77-74 with 40 seconds to go. Mason Wang was fouled and missed the second free throw but Smalls was there for the offensive rebound. He was fouled and made both to give Hood an 80-74 lead with 36 seconds to play. Wang sank four more foul shots in the final 17 seconds to negate 3-pointers by the Mustangs' Jalen Jacox and KJ Holton down the stretch.
• In the first half, Hood led by just three after a score by Wesley made it 32-29 with 2:25 left. The Blazers stretched the lead to six and back-to-back 3-pointers by Smalls extended the hafltime lead to 41-31, closing a 9-2 run to end the half.  

Analysis

• Hood did not commit a turnover during the game's first 10 minutes and turned the ball over just 12 times in the game, compared to 17 for Stevenson. 
• The Mustangs narrowly outrebounded the Blazers 40-38.

For the Opponent

• Wesley went 8-of-10 shooting on his way to 23 points for Stevenson. He added a game-high 12 boards and three blocks.
• Holton added 17 points, Richard had 15 and Cameron Smith scored a dozen. 

Notes

• Hood improved to 4-2 on the year, while the Mustangs dropped to 5-2.

Up Next
The Blazers host Widener on Saturday, December 4 at 3 p.m.