Grizzlies move to 2-0 behind Hanzlik, 47 total bench points
Adams State Bankers Classic psuedo-championship game set for Saturday with SFSU
ALAMOSA, Colo.— Sophomore guard Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.) hit four 3-pointers and scored a game-high 20 points while dishing out seven assists without a turnover as he came off the bench to lead the Adams State College Grizzlies to another balanced effort and a 80-69 win over Northern New Mexico College, Friday night in their first of two games at the Adams State Bankers Classic, which wraps up Saturday here in Plachy Hall.
The Grizzlies, who are now 2-0 for the second time in three years, also received a combined 28 points from true freshman forward Nick Fox (Colorado Springs, Colo.) and senior forward Eric Miller (Denver, Colo.), as 10 of the Grizzlies 11 that saw action scored. Fox was 6-for-9 from the field and scored 15 points while Miller tallied 13 points on the evening.
Using a big 47-26 advantage in bench points throughout the night, the deep Grizzlies outscored the Eagles 31-9 over the final 3:39 of the first half and the first 7:08 of the second while building a 23-point cushion, their largest of the evening.
The NAIA independent Eagles, who slipped to 1-3 on the campaign, had four players in double figures as Max LeFevre, Billy Grayson and Charles Williams each scored 14 points while center Pierro Bendegue chipped in another 11.
Earlier in the day, San Francisco State (Calif.) outscored Chadron State 51-32 in the second half as the Gators came from 32-27 down at the intermission to post a 78-64 win. The Gators, now 3-1, received 20 points from Marquel Hoskins, who hit 8 of 9 shots from the field. Nefi Perdomo, who had 13 points in the second half, and Phoenix O’Rourke also added 16 points each in the triumph.
Chadron State, which shot just 41.2 percent from the field while committing 27 turnovers in the sloppy and physical game, fell to 1-1 on the year despite a team-high 15 points from Kevin McClelland, who hit on 3 of 5 3-point attempts.
The Eagles will play Northern New Mexico at 3 p.m., Saturday while the Gators will face the Grizzlies in the unofficial tournament championship game at 8 p.m. That game can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) after the Grizzlies’ 6 p.m. women’s contest against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
In Friday’s nightcap, the Eagles and Grizzlies were quite even for the first seven minutes before back-to-back LeFevre treys and another by Grayson just 1:09 later gave Northern New Mexico a 17-11 lead with 11:37 to go in the first half.
However, the Grizzlies got buckets from Nick Fox and senior Forrest Becker before a Hanzlik trey just two ticks after mid-way point of the half gave the Grizzlies an 18-17 lead that they would not relinquish for the rest of the night.
Forcing, Eagle coach Enzley Mitchell IV to use a timeout during what would amount to an 11-0 Adams State run, the Grizzlies maintained a 1-to-5 point advantage for the next 6-plus minutes until another Hanzlik trey with 3:39 to go in the half triggered a 10-3 half-ending spurt that allowed the Grizzlies to go into the locker room with a 40-32 lead.
Shooting an even 50 percent (16-32) from the field in the opening 20 minutes, the Grizzlies came out of the second half gate on fire quickly increasing their lead to 19 on a Becker 3-ball at the 14:59 mark, part of what amounted to a 21-6 game-sealing win to begin the half.
After Wilson answered right back, two Kek Biel (Windsor, Ontario, Canada) buckets around another Hanzlik 3-pointer extended the Grizzlies lead to 23 (61-38) with 12:52 to go.
The Grizzlies still led by the same 23-point margin with under seven minutes left before some sloppy play and much improved Eagle shooting allowed the visitors to slice the deficit by a dozen points the rest of the way.
The Grizzlies were guilty of seven of their 19 total turnovers in the final four minutes and finished the second half shooting just 40.6 percent (13-32) from the field dropping their overall percentage to 45.3 (29-64).
Still, the Grizzlies fared better overall as the Eagles shot at just a 43.8 percent (28-64) clip throughout the night while committing 21 total turnovers, 12 of which that were charged evenly to LeFevre and Williams.
Williams did have four assists to pace the Eagles, who also had an impressive 17 steals.
The Grizzlies did win the rebounding battle 41-36 and recorded 20 assists on 29 field goals, good for a fine 69.0 assist-to-basket percentage. All eleven Grizzlies who played finished with at least one rebound.
The Grizzlies also did a good job at the charity stripe, where they were 15-for-19 (78.9 percent). The Eagles struggled at the line shooting just 53.3 percent (8-15).
The Grizzlies, who had dropped their final 13 games of the 2008-09 season, will now be in search of their first 3-0 start in their NCAA Division II (1992-93/Present) history.
Related Item: Adams State-Northern New Mexico Game Statistics
Related Item: Chadron State-San Francisco State Game Statistics
Related Item: Adams State Bankers Classic Website
Related Item: Online Photo Store Gallery
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