PLYMOUTH — A dream of a first half turned into a nightmare in the second as Plymouth’s Pilgrims were unable to hold a big first-half lead and wound up on the short end of a 51-47 final against Gary Roosevelt.
A 12 point half time lead turned into a six-point game at the end of three until finally with 4:47 in the fourth, Roosevelt took their first lead of the game.
“Frustrating night,” said Plymouth coach Ryan Bales. “Definitely had our chances and didn’t get it done. A lot of credit to Roosevelt. That got us out of what we were doing and they did a great job.”
There was little to be frustrated about in the first half as the Pilgrims easily beat the full-court defensive pressure of the Panthers leading to easy baskets and a big second-quarter lead.
“Obviously there were plenty of positives in that first half that show the way we are capable of playing, on both ends,” said Bales. “I think We let calls and some other things impact us between the ears (in the second half). We needed some guys to step up and make some plays. It was obviously a rough second half.”
Jake Reichard had a huge first half with 22 points leading the way for Plymouth but Roosevelt found him defensively in the second half.
“They changed up their defense and went to more of a 1-3-1 look and took away the middle,” said Bales. “That’s where we wanted the passing and cutting to take place.”
Roosevelt abandoned their full-court defense in the second half and that seemed to make all the difference.
Reichard could manage just six second-half points, and the Pilgrims could manage just eight points in the half. Joe Barron’s layup late in quarter number three was the only points for the Pilgrims in that eight-minute frame.
“We had a lack of execution in the second half,” said Bales. “Little things like ripping the ball through pass fakes things we continue to emphasize.”
“We had too many long passes against athletes and that’s not going to work,” he said. “You saw that down the stretch but there were a lot of plays in the third quarter where we were just in bad spots. It really led to getting them in the open court for some easy transition buckets. They got into the double bonus with three minutes left in the third quarter which didn’t help.”
“When you turn it over you aren’t going to be able to score the ball.”
Plymouth is now 2-4 on the year with a date next week to open the NLC season at NorthWood. Gary Roosevelt is now even on the year at 2-2.
•ROOSEVELT 51, PLYMOUTH 47
at Plymouth
Plymouth 18 39 41 47
Roosevelt 18 27 35 51
Plymouth (47) — Hunter 1 1-2 4, Weidner 0 1-2 1, Styers 0 0-0 0, Yoder 1 0-0 2, Reichard 7 12-13 28, Hissong 1 0-0 3, Houin 1 0-0 2, Barron 1 0-1 2, Strain 2 0-0 5. Totals 14 14-17 47.
Roosevelt (51) — Partee 1 6-7 8, Clark 5 0-0 14, Gill 0 1-3 1, Long 0 1-2 1, Forest 3 3-4 10, Grahm 1 0-0 3, Howard 3 5-7 11, Hyde 1 1-2 3.
3 Pt FG — Plymouth 5 (Reichard 2), Roosevelt 6 (Clark 4).
Rebounds — Plymouth 28 (Hissong, Barron 5), Roosevelt 26 (Gill 7).
Assists — Plymouth 6 (Barron, Reichard 2), Roosevelt 2 (Partee, Clark)
Steals — Plymouth 4 (Hunter, Weidner, Yoder, Reichard), Roosevelt 7 (Partee, Gill, Forest 2).
Turnovers — Plymouth 13, Roosevelt 10.
Fouls (Fouled out) — Plymouth 22, Roosevelt 19 (Howard).
