Despite shooting woes, Bison emerge over Bowling Green
In his Howard coaching debut, Kevin Nickelberry had a moment of inspiration. In his Howard playing debut, Alphonso Leary had a moment he will never forget.
Both elements were critical in Howard’s 54-52 victory over Bowling Green, Friday night before 2105 at Burr Gymnasium.
In the first half, Nickelberry made a key adjustment that helped the Bison gain control of the game. In the second half, freshman Leary scored the first basket of his career, a three-point play with 31 seconds left, which was the boost Howard needed to secure Nickelberry’s successful first step.
“It wasn’t aesthetically pretty, but for these guys it was important,” said Nickelberry, a D.C. native and former Howard assistant. “We’re trying to change the mentality here – to play to win.”
It was a struggle for Howard, which missed its final 11 three-point tries, hit just 14 of 34 free throws (41 percent), and survived a 16-minute drought in the second half without a field goal. But when Nickelberry needed it, the Bison delivered.
“We only had eight scholarship players to start the game. We got two of them in foul trouble, another one hurt his ankle,” said Nickelberry. “We maintained and they found a way to win. That’s all I could ask of them.”
Nickelberry came up big midway through the first half with a strategy shift.
After the Bison attempted no 3-pointers in the first 10 minutes, they came out of a timeout firing. Their next seven shots came from beyond the arc and four were good, transforming a 2-point deficit into a 7-point lead.
“They were bigger than us inside. They were a lot more physical,” said Nickelberry. “So we made a decision. We called some plays to set up the three-point shot.”
The Bison were led by junior guard Calvin Thompson (11 points, 6 rebounds) and sophomore forwards Mike Phillips (11 points, 8 rebounds) and Dadrian Collins (10 points, 7 rebounds).
Six minutes into the second half, Howard trailed 42-36. But even without the benefit of a field goal, the Bison got back into the game, thanks to rugged defense. When Collins hit two free throws with 1:52 left, he gave Howard the lead. When Thompson followed with a floater in the lane that broke the field goal drought with 1:07 left, Howard was up 51-48.
After Bowling Green guard Dee Brown made a backcourt steal and layup to cut the lead to 51-50, Howard responded with a fast-break, Phillips delivering from the open court to Leary at the hoop for the biggest basket of the game
“We’re coming to win, take it all,” said Leary. “MEAC here we come.”
