Clark Claims 66-54 Victory over AMCATS
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Clark University (3-1) | 39 | 27 | 66 |
|
Anna Maria (0-5) | 23 | 31 | 54 |
PAXTON Mass.—The Anna Maria men's basketball team fell to the Cougars of Clark University, 66-54, on Tuesday evening on the campus of Anna Maria College in their annual Tuesday-before-Thanksgiving tilt.
INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Freshman Bobby Perette (Marshfield, Mass.) led the AMCAT offense with 16 points while his classmate, Mike Rapoza (Charlton, Mass.) followed him with 12 points. Rapoza led with a team-high 20 rebounds.
The Cougars had three different players who finished the night in double figures. Joe Atkinson finished with a team-high 13 points and 10 rebounds. Luca McCormick and David Mercier both finished with 11 points.
Anna Maria went 20-49 for a 40.8 field goal shooting percentage and 5-15 from behind the arc. The AMCATS 14 turnovers would be their detriment as Clark notched 15 points off of those turnovers.
The Cougars shot 43.1 percent from the field and 35.3 percent from beyond the arc. They out-rebounded the AMCATS 36-31 and claimed a game high 19-point lead.
HOW IT HAPPENED
FIRST HALF
After winning the tip-off, Freshman Mike Rapoza made an early layup to give the AMCATS the 2-0 lead. Atkinson responded with a three pointed to take the 3-2 lead for Clark.
The score stayed close until another three-pointer from Atkinson and a couple jumpers from David Mercier gave the Cougars a 21-11 lead with 10 minutes to go in the half.
Perette notched three three pointers and Jesse Maresca (Sterling, Mass.) also drained a three to finish the AMCATS scoring in the first half.
Five points from a three pointer and a layup by Brendan Kitterage helped give Clark a 36-23 lead with three minutes to go in the half. A made free throw by Evan Lerner with 1:42 to go and a layup by Lamar Berk with 34 seconds on the clock gave the Cougars the 39-23 lead going into halftime.
SECOND HALF
The AMCATS opened up scoring in the second half with back to back jumpers made by juniors Kenneth Graham (West Haven, Conn.) and Tanner Jakola (Leominster, Mass.) to close the Clark lead to 12 points.
The Cougars went on a 4-0 run with three free throws made by Atkinson and Lerner and a layup notched by Mercier to take a 44-29 lead with 16 minutes on the clock.
Jakola and freshman Malik Fourozan (Houston, Texas) made a pair of jumpers before an AMCAT turnover led to a Clark three-pointer made by McCormick with 12:19 on the clock (49-33).
The AMCATS would see another three from Perette and a few layups combined with a pair of free throws from Rapoza to close out the majority of scoring for the AMCATS.
McCormick notched another three to help give the Cougars the ultimate 66-54 advantage over the AMCATS.
WHAT'S NEXT?
The AMCATS host Saint Joseph's College of Maine on Tuesday, November 29th at 7 p.m. in the Fuller Activities Center for their first Great Northeast Athletic Conference contest of the season. Clark will travel to Connecticut College for a 7:30 p.m. non-conference tilt.
