Las Vegas, Nev. – The Husson University men's basketball team opened up play in the 2023 D3hoops.com Classic with a 96-75 victory over the University of La Verne on Thursday evening inside South Point Arena.
Husson (10-1) showed no signs of jet lag after making the trip to the Pacific Time zone, as it was able to rattle off the first five points of the contest within the first minute of play, thanks to graduate student Derek Collin, who scored five of his 17 points to open play. La Verne (3-5) was able to keep the Eagles within reach and would lead for a good portion of the opening half, which saw nine lead changes and three ties, in addition to neither team leading by more than two possessions, as the first half would end like it started, with the score knotted up at 45-apiece.
Collin led the Husson charge in the frame, tallying 14 points on a perfect 5-5 from the floor, including 2-2 from three-point range. Senior Jeremy Moronta also found double-digits in the opening 20 minutes, as he poured in 11, in addition to dishing out five assists and connecting on both of his three-point attempts.
The Eagles shot just under 50% from the floor as a team in the first half, including a scorching 78% from the three-point line. Husson effectively shared the ball during the first half of play, tallying 11 assists on its 15 made field goals, in addition to holding a slight rebounding advantage over the Leopards, 22-19.
The Eagles took control to begin the second half, as they opened on a 14-3 run over the first five minutes of the half, with freshman Andre McCauley leading the way, as he tallied seven of his 13 second half points during the stretch. Husson remained in control for the rest of the second half, leading by as much as 23, en route to its 10th win of the season.
Moronta finished as the high-scorer on the evening for the Eagles, as he put together a 24-point, eight-rebound, eight-assist performance to pace Husson. McCauley's strong second half led him to a career high 20 points, on an efficient 6-8 shooting from the floor, in addition to a perfect 7-7 from the charity stripe.
Collin continued his perfect shooting performance in the second half, as he finished 6-6 for the game, tallying 17 points, in addition to ending the game one rebound shy of a double-double. Junior Riles Neff rounded-out the double-figure scoring with 14 points, five rebounds and five assists.
The Eagles turned in a 61% shooting percentage in the second half to finish at 54.8% for the game, in addition to maintaining a high percentage from three-point land, finishing at 66.7%. Husson, the top rebounding team in all of Division III entering play on Thursday, showed why it is amongst the best teams on the glass in the second half, as it outrebounded La Verne 26-12 in the final frame, to hold a 17-rebound edge for the game.
The Eagles will conclude their participation in the Classic tomorrow when they take on Whittier College at 11 p.m.
