Wildcats take Hampton Inn Classic title
NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - In a Hampton Inn Classic full of surprises, a third year program pulled the biggest surprise of all. The Wheelock Wildcats hoisted the men's basketball tournament championship trophy following a 68-63 victory over the University of New England Nor'easters at the Tripp Athletic Center Saturday afternoon.
"Being a third year program, we're shocked we even got to the finals," said Wheelock Head Coach John Preziosa. "We feel like it's a big confidence boost for us. We also feel like it's going to get some attention for our recruiting. It's a big step toward becoming a serious Division Three program. We're very excited about winning the tournament."
Wildcat senior forward Sherard Robbins (Malden, Mass./Malden HS) earned the tournament's Most Valuable Player award, while teammate sophomore guard Max Kaim (Fort Lauderdale, Fla./Cypress Bay HS) was named to the all-tournament team. The Nor'easters also had two players receive individual honors, as sophomore guard Victor Oruonyehu (Austin, Texas/Crockett HS) and sophomore forward Quentin Thompson (Austin, Texas/William B. Travis HS) were named to the all-tournament team.
After defeating #8 ranked UMass Dartmouth on Friday night, the Nor'easters became the presumptive favorites for the championship. In the first half, they lived up to the billing, nailing seven three pointers and carrying a 34-29 lead into halftime.
Wheelock Head Coach John Preziosa told his team at halftime that they had to change the game's pace in order to win. "We made our adjustments at half," Preziosa said. "We wanted to get away from the transition, and we wanted to shut these guys into a half court set, and it seemed to work. We knew if we stopped giving up second chance points, we'd be OK."
The Wildcats tipped the scales in the second half when back to back layups by Kaim and junior forward Dan Main (Hopedale, Mass./Hopedale HS) erased a 47-43 deficit and tied the game with 9:13 to play. Moments later, with the game tied at 49, Main scored the next four points to give the Wildcats the lead for good.
New England looked to be on the comeback trail when a 5-0 run brought them back to within two at 61-59 with 2:57 to play. But Wheelock sophomore center Eric Rice (Woburn, Mass./Woburn HS) responded with four consecutive points on a jumper followed by a pair of free throws to tuck the game away.
"I've got to give UNE credit, because they set a pace where it's difficult to be calm," Preziosa said. "They run a great run and jump. They definitely dictated the tempo early on. We knew we couldn't get into an up and down track meet with them."
All five of Wheelock's starters reached double figures. Robbins, Main and Rice all scored 14 points apiece. Sophomore guard Victor Kashouh (Providence, R.I./Classical HS) posted a double-double with ten points and ten rebounds. Kaim scored 11 points to go along with four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
The Nor'easters had three players reach double figures. Oruonyehu and Thompson each scored twelve points, while sophomore guard Anthony Johnson (Austin, Texas/Del Valle HS) tallied 11.
The Wildcats advanced to the final by defeating Springfield 61-56 on Friday night at the Tripp Athletic Center.
Tournament Most Valuable Player Sherard Robbins averaged 13 points and seven rebounds per game over two games in the Hampton Inn Classic. "We're used to being the underrated team," Robbins said. "Coming into the tournament, we knew we were playing some good teams. The matchups were definitely even, but our bigs came through."
"I've never had an award like this in my life," Robbins said. "I'm ecstatic. I'm glad we could do it as a team and put it all together."
The Wildcats improved to 3-0 with the victory, while the Nor'easters dropped to 2-2 with the defeat. UNE will return to action when they visit Bowdoin Tuesday. Wheelock will visit Emmanuel Tuesday.
