Men's Basketball Nipped by Wooster in Steve Moore Sunshine Shootout Championship

WINTER PARK, Fla. – A strong start to the second half by the College of Wooster flipped the script as the University of Saint Joseph (USJ) men's basketball team fell to the Fighting Scots, 93-90, in the championship game of the Steve Moore Sunshine Shootout Wednesday afternoon inside the Harold & Ted Alfond Sports Center on the campus of Rollins College. With the result, the Blue Jays drop to 8-3 overall on the 2023-24 season, while the Fighting Scots improve to 4-6.

Four players finished in double figures for the Blue Jays, led by senior forward Jalen Samuels (Franklin, Mass.), who finished with a team-high 21 points. Senior guard Tyree Mitchell (East Hartford, Conn.) poured in 18, sophomore guard Jonathan Box (Frisco, Texas) dropped a career-high 16, and sophomore guard Lence Altenor (Everett, Mass.) added 14. Samuels and Box were named to the Steve Moore Sunshine Shootout All-Tournament Team.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Blue Jays didn't allow a made field goal over the opening 4:10 of the contest to race out to a 9-2 lead. Samuels sparked USJ's early offense with five quick points, including his third three-pointer of the season.
• Wooster countered with a 7-2 run to make it a one possession game (11-9) with 13:28 left to play in the first period.
• Both teams went shot-for-shot over the ensuing five minutes until Wooster's sophomore wing Jaiden Cox-Holloway (Cleveland, Ohio) canned a triple to level the score at 24-all with just over seven minutes to go before halftime.
• The tightly contested first half continued as it remained a one possession game until a senior guard Chaylyn Martin (Hartford, Conn.) driving layup and pair of Mitchell free throws put the Blue Jays up 32-27 with 3:23 remaining on the first-half timer.
• Two Wooster freebies halted USJ's run momentarily, but a Box three and two junior guard Kevin Cummings (Portsmouth, N.H.) free throws gave USJ its largest lead of the game (37-29) with just under two minutes to go before the break.
• However, the Fighting Scots closed the half strong and kept the Blue Jays off the board, utilizing a 4-0 run to make it a 37-33 margin entering the intermission.
• Wooster carried over its momentum to the start of the second half and opened the final stanza outscoring USJ 9-2 to take its first lead of the game. Junior guard Jamir Billings (Lorain, Ohio) capped the early second-half run with a three-pointer to put the Fighting Scots up 42-39 with 17:46 to play and forced a Blue Jays timeout.
• Wooster continued its big run as junior guard Ashton Price (Bay Village, Ohio) rattled home a corner three to push the Fighting Scots' lead out to 11 (58-47) with 12:41 go. Overall, it was a 25-10 spurt to start the second half for Wooster to build the largest lead of the contest.
• The Blue Jays punched right back though and after a four-point play by Altenor and old-fashioned three-point play by Samuels, USJ trimmed its deficit to six (60-54) with 11:36 remaining.
• After both teams traded points, the Fighting Scots built their lead back out to double digits (68-58) with just over eight minutes to go, but a Mitchell layup and Box transition three got the Blue Jays within five (68-63) and forced a Wooster timeout with 6:24 left.
• Wooster's senior guard JJ Cline (Wooster, Ohio) silenced USJ with a three out of the timeout, but a sophomore forward Friedrich Feldrappe (Berlin, Germany) slam and another Box transition three on the Blue Jays' next two possessions made it a three-point game (71-68) with 5:27 on the clock.
• USJ had a chance and was able to get within one (77-76) after a Samuels jumper with 2:46 remaining, but Wooster's Billings took over and made two huge three-pointers in a minute's span to preserve the Fighting Scots lead (83-78) with 1:21 left in regulation. He would score 13 of the Fighting Scots' 16 points over the final 2:24 of the game.
• Saint Joseph never quit though and made it interesting down the stretch after Mitchell converted an and-one and drilled a step-back three to make it 90-87 with 12 seconds left, but the Blue Jays simply ran out of time, were forced to foul, and Wooster hit 10-of-12 attempts from the charity stripe in the final minute to escape with the 93-90 victory.

INSIDE THE BOX SCORE

• Samuels shot 6-of-8 from the field, including 1-of-2 from three, and went 8-of-11 from the line to register his team-high 21 points for the Blue Jays.
• Box was efficient to record his career-best 16 points, connecting on 6-of-7 attempts from the floor, including a career-high four three-pointers (4-5 3FG).
• Billings was one of five Wooster players in double figures on the day, finishing with a game-high 22 points on 5-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc and hit 7-of-8 tries from the free-throw line. He also grabbed a game-high eight rebounds and dished out a game-best seven assists.
• USJ shot 51.7% (30-58) from the field, 42.3% (11-26) from three, and 86.4% (19-22) from the line.
• Wooster shot 45.5% (25-55) from the floor, 42.3% (11-26) from deep, and 88.9% (32-36) from the charity stripe.
• The Fighting Scots won the battle on the glass, outrebounding the Blue Jays, 36-23. Mitchell had a team-high seven boards for USJ.
• Today's contest marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

UP NEXT

Men's basketball takes a short break for Christmas before returning to West Hartford's James A. Calhoun Gymnasium to host the USJ Holiday Tournament on Friday and Saturday, December 29-30. UMass Dartmouth and Wentworth will play in the opening game of the two-day tournament on Friday at 5:00 p.m. before the Blue Jays take on Lycoming at 7:00 p.m. The consolation game is set for Saturday at 1:00 p.m. while the two winners will play in the championship game at 3:00 p.m. Tickets to attend the USJ Holiday Tournament can be purchased by visiting www.usjbluejays.com/tickets.