Brown Defeats Bethune-Cookman 81-73
Joe Calabro, GoLocalProv Sports Team
Brown Defeats Bethune-Cookman 81-73
"We are happy to win, winning is hard, it's never easy. Those guys are talented, they have a lot of guys that can hurt you offensively. I saw them last week in a game against Central Florida hold an 18 point lead, go down 17 in the second half and then come back and make it an overtime game," said head coach Mike Martin after the game.
See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below
Brown led 26-29 at the half but took control of the game early in the second using a 12-1 run, sparked by three-pointers from Tavon Blackmon and JR Hobbie to go up 48-30 prior to the under 16 time out.
GET THE LATEST BREAKING NEWS HERE -- SIGN UP FOR GOLOCAL FREE DAILY EBLASTBethune-Cookman fought back to get within five points, 65-60, with just over six minutes left but the Bears would use a quick 5-0 run capped off by a Blackmon three-pointer to push their lead back up to 10 points with 5:39 to play in the game.
Bethune-Cookman would not get closer than five points the rest of the way, and that came with 20 seconds left.
The Leaders
Tavon Blackmon led Brown with a season high 20 points, 4 assists and 4 rebounds in the game while Cedric Kuakumensah followed up with 15 points and 12 rebounds for a double-double. Kuakumensah also had 4 rebounds and 4 blocked shots.
Next up
Brown returns to action on Wednesday, December 30th when they host URI at the Pizzitola Center. Tip off is set for 7 p.m.
See the Five Takeaways Slideshow Below
5 Takeaways From Brown's Win Over Bethune-Cookman
Steven Spieth
Steven Spieth did a little bit of everything for the Bears in this game and was flirting with a triple-double.
Spieth finished the game with 6 points on 3 of 5 shooting from the field to go with 7 rebounds and six assists for Brown in 36 minutes of play.
Of Spieth's 7 rebounds, 4 of them came on the offensive end.
Cedric Kuakumensah
Cedric Kuakumensah posted his sixth double-double of the season with 15 points and 12 rebounds in the game to go along with 4 assists and 4 blocked shots.
Kuakumensah's 15 points came on 5 of 11 shooting from the field and of his 12 rebounds, 9 were on the defensive end.
Bench Points
Brown got a huge lift off the bench from Obi Okolie who came in and scored 12 points on 4 of 6 shooting from the field to go with three rebounds and one blocked shot in 15 minutes of action.
Patrick Triplett followed up with 6 points off the bench while also playing 15 minutes in the game.
22 Assists
Steven Spieth and Jason Massey led Brown with six assists each while Blackmon and Kuakumensah followed up with 4 each.
Overall, Brown had 22 assists on 28 made field goals.
"I thought we shared the ball really well, 22 assists is a really good number, 22 assists on 28 made field goals and I think it just speaks too the unselfishness of our group. Tavon leads the league in assists but Steven had six assists, Jason had six assists, Cedric had four. We share the ball and you know that's a big stat for us," said head coach Mike Martin after the game.
Tavon Blackmon
Tavon Blackmon led Brown with a season high 20 points in the game on 6 of 10 shooting from the field, including 3 of 4 from beyond the three-point arc and 5 of 8 from the free throw line.
Blackmon also had four rebounds and four assists in the game and was a key factor in Brown's ability to push the ball up the floor.
"I think I'm just trying to work myself back in shape, I missed a lot of time in the pre season with a foot injury so I was really out of shape. I wasn't in the best shape before that injury. So I think I've been getting in a lot better shape and getting adjusted," Blackmon said after the game.
