Strong second half leads Pats past Navigators

By Jacob Marrocco
Posted 1/7/16

After taking just a two-point advantage into halftime, the Pilgrim boys’ basketball team outscored Paul Cuffee 31-14 in the second half to remain undefeated in Division III with a 57-38 victory on …

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Strong second half leads Pats past Navigators

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After taking just a two-point advantage into halftime, the Pilgrim boys’ basketball team outscored Paul Cuffee 31-14 in the second half to remain undefeated in Division III with a 57-38 victory on Tuesday night.

Sophomores Matt Woods and Tyrone Weeks led the way overall for the Pats, but senior guard Ethan Schneider wasn’t to be outdone in the second half. Schneider had four of his five 3-pointers and 16 of his 19 points on the night come after the intermission.

“Tonight we definitely were [a second-half team],” Pilgrim head coach Mike Batalon said. “We got off to a slow start. A lot of that was because Paul Cuffee came out with great energy. Corrected it in the second half and did a nice job in the last 16 minutes.”

Woods finished the game with 11 points, eight steals and five assists, while Weeks added 11 points of his own to go with nine blocks, five rebounds and three steals.

Pilgrim (5-0) took just a 26-24 lead into the break, but came out shooting in the second half. Schneider found his stroke from beyond the arc, starting with a 3-pointer to put Pilgrim up for good, 29-27, to open the Pats’ scoring.

Matt Woods drilled a 3-pointer of his own to extend the lead to 5, but Aaron Gray answered down the other end with a long-distance shot to make it a two-point game again. Schneider continued the 3-point contest down at the other end, nailing another from deep.

Weeks would chip in inside the painted area with two athletic layups to put the pats ahead 41-32. On the next possession, Schneider took a pass from Woods and buried another 3-pointer to extend the lead out to 12.

“That’s huge,” Batalon said of Schneider getting hot in the second half. “Tyrone’s been our leading scorer this year but he can’t do it by himself. We always need a complementary player, so it was nice to see Ethan get a hot hand in the second half.”

Only four Pilgrim players would score in the second half, but it was all the Pats would need. Schneider hit another from beyond the arc to put Pilgrim ahead 53-34 late in the game to ice the win.

Israel Woods and Gray, who combined for 19 of Paul Cuffee’s 24 points in the first half, were held to 11 points on just three field goals in the second half. Weeks, Woods and Schneider combined for 29 points in the last 16 minutes.

It was a slow start for Pilgrim, though. The Pats had a difficult time slowing down Israel Woods and Gray in the first half, allowing them to combine for 19 of the team’s 24 points. Early Pilgrim turnovers and sharp shooting allowed the Navigators to build a 13-6 lead with six coming from Israel Woods.

Pilgrim got going after that point. Anthony Stevens hit a shot to make it 13-8 before buckets from Brandon Lawton and Matt Woods cut the deficit to 1. The Pats would never trail or lead by more than one possession for the remainder of the half, exchanging baskets the rest of the way with the Navigators (1-3).

The Pats begin a tough stretch on Friday as they will take on all three Division III-South opponents in a one-week span. Pilgrim starts with a road contest at Toll Gate before coming home for games against Warwick Vets on Tuesday and Chariho next Friday.

“We’re just trying to work hard and improve every day,” Batalon said.

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