Youngwood, PA — The Hocking College men’s basketball team (4-0) continues its early season success with wins over the Pennsylvania Highlands CC, 98-66, and host Westmoreland County CC, 113-67, at the 2019 Westmoreland County CC Tip-Off on Nov. 8-9.
Hocking was led by Shawn Paris Jr, who came off the bench and scored a game-high 23 points on 9-of-14 shooting from the field. He went 4-of-7 from three and 1-of-2 from the free throw line, adding nine rebounds and two assists. Elias Revelle provided 13 points on 5-of-10 shooting including two three-pointers, a free throw, three rebounds, two steals, and a block. Landon Sprigler and Girvan Warren each added 11 points. Sprigler was 5-of 12 from the field with a three-pointer. He added eight assists and six rebounds. Warren shot 5-of-7 and made his only three-point attempt, while adding six rebounds, two steals, and three blocks.
The Black Bears were led by Taquarius Belcher, who scored a team-high 20 points on 8-of-16 from the field, hitting one three pointer and shooting 3-of-4 from the free throw line. He added a team-high 13 rebounds, an assist, and two steals. As a team, Penn Highlands shot 22-of-63 from the field, 6-of-29 from three and16-of-26 from the free-throw line.
Westmoreland County CC was no match for Hocking, as the Hawks won,113-67, in a free throw shootout as the teams combined to commit 63 fouls and shoot 80 free throws. But the performance of the weekend goes to Hocking’s Shawn Paris Jr, who scored a tournament and game-high 29 points on 11-of-20 from the field. He went 6-of-10 from three and 1-of-4 from the free throw line. He added 11 rebounds and a steal. His 29 points ranks tied for eighth most in a game in program history.
The Wolfpack was led by Dylan Bubarth, who scored 14 points, including a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line. As a team, Westmoreland scored 32 points at the foul line in the game on 46 attempts.
Hocking remains #2 in points per game in NJCAA Divsion-lll, averaging 107.0 PPG. Hocking’s defense is #2 in the NJCAA Division-lll with 18.3 steals per game and is forcing its opponents into 28.8 turnovers per game, both of which rank #2 in the NJCAA Divsion lll.
Hocking will return home to face Cincinnati-Clermont on Thursday, November 14th at 7:30pm. The Lady Hawks open their season on Thursday, hosting UC-Clermont at 5:30pm. Both games will be played in the Hocking College Student Center.
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Trevor Stephens
Hocking College Athletics