SAINT MARY-OF-THE-WOODS, Ind. -- The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College men's basketball arrived back just before dawn on Wednesday morning from their road contest at Concordia (Mich.) and gutted out a tough 53-45 victory over visiting Simmons (Ky.) on Thursday evening (Dec. 5) inside the Knoerle Center.
SMWC won their ninth consecutive game to improve to 9-2 on the season while Simmons fell to 1-11. SMWC will focus on final exams for the next nine days before returning to action on Saturday, December 14 when they host Moody Bible College (Ill.) at 1 pm (ET) inside Knoerle Center.
Greg Jenkins carried the offense in the second half to post a team-leading 14 points.
Taray Howell had 12 points while
Shon Tupuola recorded his sixth double-double of the season with 13 points and a team-high 17 rebounds. Tupuola was 4-of-6 from the field and entered the game with NAIA's fourth-best field goal percentage. The Pomeroys converted 13 offensive rebounds into 13 second-chance points while they forced 18 turnovers and scored 21 points off them.
Off the bench,
Malik Tansmore played 19 minutes with five rebounds, a steal and a blocked shot. He was greeted with a big hug from head coach
Jesse McClung as the seconds ticked away on the clock for his hard work in the contest.
SMWC held Simmons to just 18-of-56 shooting (32.1 percent) and limited them to a pair of 3-point field goals.
It would take five minutes for the Pomeroys to hit the scoreboard when Howell scored to make it 4-2. A 10-0 run capped by a 3-pointer from
Taeron Hogg with 6:38 left before the half turned a deficit into a 17-9 advantage. Simmons scored the final eight points of the half to lead 24-23 at the break.
Phillip Richards hit a trifecta to push the Simmons lead out to five points in the second half when the Pomeroys made their game-changing run. It started with a bucket from Howell and ended with a Tupuola charity toss with 8:25 remaining to take a 40-31 lead. It would be a six and a half minute scoring drought for Simmons before they embarked a 6-0 spurt to make it a one possession game with 5:48 remaining.
Howell's trifecta with 3:06 on the clock opened up a 46-39 cushion which was padded by a Jenkins running jumper. Jenkins hit a final free throw with 15 seconds remaining for the 53-45 victory.
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