Larry Pierce scored 19 points as the University boys took control of Pioneer Conference North division race with a 62-51 win over Seton Catholic Monday evening at The U Center.
The Trailblazers overwhelmed the Cardinals in the first half, leading by as many as 21 points late in the second quarter and managed to hold a double digit lead for all but two seconds of the second half.
Nate Jeffrey put the Trailblazers on top to stay two minutes in to the game at 4-3. Back to back buckets by Pierce, the second off a Seth Hogg steal, gave University a 8-3 lead. Robert Russell and Kahmi Bracey hit three pointers in the first quarter and University led 18-8 at the quarter break.
The Cardinals scored the first four point of the second quarter before University scored the next 15 points to blow the game open. Pierce scored on a rebound before a three pointer from Andre Ozlowski forced a Seton Catholic timeout. Pierce threw done a one handed dunk and Hogg hit a triple before two Bracey baskets made the second 33-12 with 3:00 left in the half. Another Russell three pointer finished the first half scoring for University who took a 36-20 lead to the locker room.
Seton Catholic started to try to crawl back in the game in the third quarter, but Pierce had six points in the period and Russell hit another three pointer and University led 45-31 after the third.
University held a 51-36 lead with 5:00 remaining when Jeffrey scored off a nice assist from Hogg. University went scoreless for nearly three minutes before Hogg scored off a Jeffrey assist with 2:20 remaining to put the lead at 53-40. Seton Catholic eventually closed to 59-51 on a banked in three pointer with 25 seconds left, but Bracey made a pair of foul shots and Hogg made one to close out the scoring.
University coach Brandon Lafferman was excited about this team’s performance. “I’m really proud of my team having three games in four days, with tonight being the most important one, a huge conference matchup that we had to win if we wanted a chance at another title. I thought our guys came out great with a lot of energy. Larry Pierce really set the tone early on and we did a really good job defensively guarding them in the first half. Second half was a little slow, but we managed the last five minutes of the game really well and came away with a big win.”
The win improves University to 6-2 overall, 2-0 in the PAAC North. The Blazers can clinch their sixth consecutive berth in the PAAC championship game when they host Muncie Burris on Jan. 14. University has won the last four PAAC championship games and have won 21 consecutive PAAC North games. University’s last loss in division play was Dec. 12, 2015 when they lost to eventual Class 1A state champion Liberty Christian in what was the Blazers first game in PAAC play.
Seton Catholic saw their seven-game winning streak come to an end. The Cardinals are 7-2 overall and 1-1 in PAAC North play.
The Trailblazers will play in the Phil Cox Memorial Tournament at Kokomo on Dec. 29 and 30. University opens tournament play at 8:00 p.m. on Dec. 29 against the host Wildkats. University will play either Valparaiso or South Bend Riley at noon on Dec. 30 with their final tournament game also being played on Dec. 30 against one of Guerin Catholic, Warren Central, Brownsburg or South Bend Adams.
UNIVERSITY 62, SETON CATHOLIC 53
University FG FT TP PF
Bryce Gray 3 0-0 8 2
Nate Jeffrey 3 2-2 8 0
Kahmi Bracey 4 3-4 12 2
Robert Russell 2 0-0 6 2
Andre Ozlowski 1 0-0 3 2
Larry Pierce 9 1-3 19 3
Seth Hogg 2 1-2 6 4
Steven Scott 0 0-0 0 3
Totals 24 7-11 62 18
Score by Quarters
Seton Catholic 8 12 11 22 – 53
University 18 18 9 17 – 62
University 3-pointers (7) Gray 2, Russell 2, Bracey, Ozlowski, Pierce.