Eagles Beat New Haven, Snap Winless Streak
Sullivan used their old standby — the 3-pointer — to explode their lead Tuesday and rout New Haven.
Cody McKinney and Caleb Todd each found their stroke beyond the arc, launching three 3-pointers to open a 24-point lead in the third quarter and lead Sullivan to a 68-43 victory.
The Eagles (12-11) snapped a three-game losing streak behind 26 points from McKinney and 17 from Todd. Tuesday’s game was the seventh time this season McKinney has gone off for 20-plus points. McKinney finished with six 3’s and Todd five. The Eagles rained 15 3-pointers on New Haven. Jacob Hatcher came off the bench in the fourth quarter to knock down a pair. Austin Lewis and Josh Wiese also hit on triples.
Hatcher finished with six points. Cameron Cunningham, Austin Frye and Landon Hoffman scored four. Lewis and Wiese had three and Jacob Rohrer scored one.
Sullivan outscored New Haven 40-22 in the second half.
The Eagles struggled to get going in the first quarter. Four minutes ticked off the clock before Landon Hoffman cut underneath the basket and banked a wide-open layup for Sullivan’s first score.
New Haven repeatedly went inside to 6-6 John Fleer, responsible for eight of New Haven’s first nine points.
Sullivan ended the first quarter on a 12-3 spree, fueled by treys from McKinney and Wiese. Fleer had a putback with 34 seconds left, but Cunningham spun inside for a reverse layup and Frye ran in a fastbreak layup with seven seconds to give the Eagles a 17-9 lead.
New Haven cut the deficit to 19-14 with 5:50 remaining in the half. Lewis drilled a 3-pointer on Sullivan’s next trip down. With just over a minute left, he drove into the lane and zipped a pass to Todd for an open trey and a 28-18 lead.
The Shamrocks would get a 3-pointer from Joseph Rethemeyer to end the half trailing 28-21.
New Haven fired the first salvo in the third quarter on a transition bucket by Fleer, but McKinney erased it with two 3’s and a pair of free throws in 80 seconds.
The Shamrocks would eventually cut off what turned into a 9-0 run with a jumper by Rethemeyer.
On Sullivan’s next trip down, New Haven knocked the ball loose and it began rolling towards their basket. McKinney chased the ball down from two defenders, outraced them into the open court and fired a pass to Todd, who splashed a 3-pointer.
McKinney then rolled a 3 around the rim, his hands on his knees as he waited for it to fall through. Sullivan took a 43-25 lead and New Haven called their third timeout of the period.
The Shamrocks’ troubles continued after the stoppage when the inbound pass went straight to McKinney near half-court. It led to a 3-pointer from Todd. Todd hit his third trey of the period just 20 seconds later and Sullivan led 49-25, their biggest advantage of the game. The Eagles took a 51-30 lead going into the fourth quarter.