CENTER VALLEY, Pa. - The Hood College men's basketball team hit a season-best 17 3-pointers but fell 84-74 to Neumann University in the consolation game of the Al Senavitis Memorial Tournament at DeSales. 

Inside the Box Score

• Christopher Smalls scored a career-high 19 points to lead the Blazers. He went 7-of-16 shooting, buoyed by a 5-for-12 performance behind the 3-point arc. The senior paced Hood with six rebounds and added two steals. 
• Bryce Butler went 5-for-7 from 3-point range on his way to 17 points, matching his season-high. 
• Evan Wang scored 15 points on 5-of-10 shooting and went 3-for-6 from long range. He led the Blazers with six assists. He finished the game with 988 career points. 
• Mason Wang gave Hood four players in double figures with 10 points. 

How it Happened

• Despite the prolific night from 3-point range for the Blazers, it was not enough to offset a huge night by Neumann's Jalen Vaughns. Vaughns finished with game-highs of 35 points and 17 rebounds. The Knights' big man shot 17-of-22 from the field and grabbed eight of his boards off the offensive glass. 
• The first half featured nine lead changes and a pair of ties, the last coming on a 3-pointer by Ryan Starr that put the Knights ahead 24-23 with 7:47 left. Starr and Vaughns combined for 18 points up to that point as Hood used a balanced attack to keep pace. 
• Starr's 3-pointer started a 20-9 run over the remainder of the half to put Hood behind 39-32 at the half. 
• Hood cut the deficit to four on several occasions in the second half, but Neumann eventually built a 75-62 lead with 3:44 left in the contest. 
• The Blazers had one last run behind the shooting of Butler and Smalls. After each player hit a 3-pointer, Garrison Linton came up with a steal and Butler hit another 3-pointer to pull Hood within 75-71 at the 2:08 mark. Vaughns and Tony James scored over the next minute before Butler's final 3-pointer cut the Neumann lead to 79-74 with 50 seconds to play. Vaughns final points of the day put the game out of reach and Neumann followed by going 3-for-4 at the foul line in the final 20 seconds. 

Analysis

• Behind the inside game of Vaughns and James, who combined to shoot 23-for-30, the Knights shot 58 percent in the contest. 
• Neumann outrebounded the Blazers 46-25, grabbing 17 offensive boards that turned into 30 second chance points. 
• Hood went 17-for-45 from 3-point distance (38 percent), while holding the Knights to 4-for-14 (29 percent).

For the Opponent

• In addition to a double-double by Vaughns, James added 14 points and 11 rebounds. 
• Starr netted 17 points, TJ Lewis 12 and KJ Speller six as Neumann's started five did all the scoring. 

Notes

• Hood fell to 6-4 on the year, while Neumann moved to 7-5. 

Up Next 
The Blazers return home to host Lebanon Valley on January 5.