Stormers dominate the court
Photo by Wendi Coon
Maher Hakim (#5) drives to the basket for two of his points during the heated game against the Rochester Community and Technical College Yellow Jackets. Hakim lead his team with five assists during the game.
The MATC Stormers came out strong in their game against the UW-Waukesha Cougars on Monday, Nov. 16, much attributed to Nathan Melchior’s hot shooting from downtown.
Melchior knocked down two 3-pointers in the first five minutes of the game and led the team in scoring at the end of the first half with 11 points. Thomas Hood’s six rebounds in the first half allowed the Stormers to get out and run in transition, leading to a lot of fast break points.
The Stormers looked strong throughout the first half, putting up 51 points, however the first half was saturated with 10 team fouls, which led to easy points for the Cougars.
Despite the foul trouble, the Stormers went into halftime with a mild but comfortable 51-41 point lead. Despite the continued foul trouble, the second half went as well as the Stormers could have wanted.
Lavele Gray (#24) defends the net against Yellow Jacket (#32) Ben Ratliff. Gray scored seven points in the game, but the Stormers were unable to recover from the 10-point deficit. Final score was 85-99.
When asked how the foul trouble affected their game plan, head coach Randy Casey said, “We always play with the next man up mentality, and tonight really proved how deep our bench is.”
Casey was not wrong; the Stormers’ bench contributed 60 points. Hood continued to contribute in a major way, putting up 16 points in the second half, with a total of 24 in the game.
Hood accredited much of his success to his teammates, saying, “I started off slow, but my teammates kept me involved and I was able to take some good shots.”
The Stormers would outlast the Cougars and come away with a 115-85 victory.
In addition, a big congratulations to head coach Randy Casey on achieving his 300th career win on Nov. 13.
Former editor-in-chief 2016-17
