Perimeter Shooting Helps Sullivan Past Hermann In FRC Opener
Sullivan used a fast start beyond the arc Tuesday to coast past Hermann 58-51 in their Four Rivers Conference opener.
The Eagles (14-4) opened up a 10-2 lead midway through the first quarter and wouldn’t allow Hermann to get any closer than three.
Sullivan benefited from seven Bearcats turnovers in the first half, along with an offensive outburst from Cameron Cunningham.
Cunningham, who scored 11 points, had eight straight between the end of the first quarter and beginning of the second.
Sullivan had six players combine for 12 3-pointers, including three by Cunningham and Landon Hoffman. Austin Lewis and Cody McKinney finished with two. Joshua Wiese and Austin Frye each recorded triples.
McKinney led all scorers with 18 points. Hoffman aded 11 and Lewis finished with six. Wiese scored five and Carter Adams two.
Jacob Rohrer didn’t add points, but he led the Eagles with eight rebounds and six assists.
The Eagles led 23-9 with 4:24 left in the first half and on a night where the 3-pointers were dropping, Hermann was unable to rally.
Adams and McKinney fueled an early run for the Eagles, with McKinney raining both his 3-pointers in the first few minutes.
Hermann would make it 12-9 on a 3-pointer by Holden Ash with 2:40 to play, but Cunningham launched a trey to give the Eagles a 15-9 lead.
In the second quarter, Cunningham drove the baseline and converted a shot at the rim. He hit his third 3-pointer with 5:51 to create a 20-9 lead.
Hoffman zipped a cross-court pass to Wiese in the corner for a 3 at the 4:24 mark. Sullivan continued using some excellent ball movement to dice up the Bearcats. Lewis bounced a give-and-go to Hoffman for an easy layup with 2:32 left, putting the Eagles up 27-16.
Hermann trimmed the deficit to six with under two minutes to go, but Hoffman and Lewis drained 3-pointers to give the Eagles a 33-23 lead at the half.
Lewis upped the lead with another 3-pointer coming out of the break. Hermann responded with a three-point play by Rhet Scheidegger and a trey from Ash. Hoffman pushed Sullivan’s advantage back to double digits with a triple.
Trent Anderson converted another Bearcats three-point play with 4:07 left, only to have Hoffman come back with his third 3-pointer. Sullivan led 42-34 after three quarters.
Hermann would cut the deficit to 44-37 on Chase McKague’s 3-pointer, but it was met with a response on the other end by Cunningham. McKague drained another trey with 3:09 left, again getting the Bearcats within seven. The Eagles answered when Frye splashed a 3 from the corner.