BUFFALO, N.Y. – The Villa Maria College men's basketball team were in action on Saturday as they started the second half of their season against Kent State of Tuscarawas. The Golden Eagles were strong in the second half and the Vikings fell by a score of 84-78. With the loss, Villa falls to 5-7 on the year, while Kent State move to 6-9 on the season.
The Vikings came out of the gate firing with
Raymond Sims hitting a three-pointer before later knocking down back-to-back layups to put the team up 10-0. Sims continued his strong play by converting at the free-throw line and making another three.
Jaylin Rose and
Victor Fuller added strong guard play as they got their lead to 17 at the 5:54 mark. The Golden Eagles did not give up as they fought back the remainder of the first half and cut their deficit to five as the halftime horn sounded.
When the second half started, Villa quickly fell behind, but never let the game get out of hand.
Jordan Heine, Rose and Sims all helped score points to keep their deficit to under five points. Half-way through the second frame, Fuller converted a layup that put the team behind 66-64, which forced a timeout. As the game got into the final two minutes of regulation, Sims was able to cut the deficit to three, before Rose knocked down a pair of free-throws to bring the score to 80-78. Unfortunately, the team was unable to reclaim the lead and lost by a final score of 84-78.
Rose finished the game with 27 points on 7-for-12 shooting and 4-for-6 from three. He also recorded eight assists and grabbed three rebounds. Sims had a double-double in his 31 minutes of play, scoring 24 points, bringing in 10 rebounds and also stood out on defense with four steals. Fuller also finished in double digits with 12 points and added four rebounds and three steals.
Villa has a quick turnaround as they play at home again on Monday, Jan. 6 at 6:30 p.m. as they host Bryant and Stratton College-Ohio.
Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Vikings scores and awards by following @VillaVikings on Twitter and by liking the "Villa Maria Vikings" Facebook page.
