Bovino's Rebounds Help Men's Basketball Rebound
Wednesday, January 16, 2013|
Sometimes Brandon Bovino found the ball, and sometimes it just found him.
Sophomore Malique Killing shook off a rough start to finish with a game-high 20 points, junior Austin Curry went 4-for-5 from three-point range en route to scoring 19, and junior Kevin Hargrove contributed 14 points and nine rebounds.
Senior Matt O’Hara had an excellent all-around game with five points, seven rebounds and 10 assists – his fourth double-digit assist game of the season.
With Centennial Conference all-time leading rebounder Spencer Liddic looking on, Bovino had nine boards in the first half and added five more in the first 4:12 of the second half. But his place slowed down, and he had to settle for coming up four short of Liddic’s CC-record-tying 21 rebounds in a game last year.
“It was a good feeling, especially coming off a game that was frustrating for me,” he added.
Bovino’s big night helped the Mules (9-7, 5-4) to a 46-33 advantage on the boards against a Haverford team that started only one player over 6-2.
“That was a point of emphasis,” said Bovino. “Rebound, push in transition, and value the ball.”
Curry scored 12 of his points in a seesaw first half that saw 11 lead changes and ended with Muhlenberg ahead by just a point, at 31-30. It was 39-36 six minutes into the second half before the Mules went on an 11-0 run to take a double-digit lead that they held on to for the rest of the game.
Bovino scored half of his eight points to start the run, both on baskets in the post assisted by O’Hara, and Killing, limited by foul trouble to two points in 11 first-half minutes, netted the final seven.
Muhlenberg held the Fords (5-9, 3-6) to 24.2-percent shooting after halftime and, after giving the ball up seven times in the first half, committed only three turnovers in the first 15 minutes of the second half, adding three late ones after the game was already in hand.
“Coach came in at halftime and told us that we were getting good shots when we held on to the ball,” said Bovino. “We had a lot of turnovers in the first half so we had to value the ball more. We did exactly that, and once we got the lead we didn’t let up.”
The win put the Mules into a tie for third place at the halfway point of the season in the ultra-competitive CC. Muhlenberg’s comfortable 16-point win stood out on a night that featured two overtime games and another contest decided by two points.
“We put a full game together for 40 minutes,” said Bovino. “We have the talent and we have the work ethic; it’s just a matter of putting it all together.”
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