Keelhaulers Win a Nailbitter
While the California Pacific Conference is rarely predictable in its results, one constant the past few years is the intensity of the contests between Cal Maritime and Holy Names. Saturday night was no different as both team battled back and forth the entire game until some clutch plays by the Keelhaulers led to a 59-58 victory. The win keeps the Keelhaulers' quest for a perfect conference season alive as they move to 11-0 with one regular season game remaining. With the loss, Holy Names drops to 6-5 as they remain in second place with a half game lead over Menlo and William Jessup.
Cal Maritime started the game very well and raced to a 12-2 lead. However, as they would do all night, Holy Names responded and quickly closed the gap. The Keelhaulers defended very well in the first half limiting the Hawks to 22% shooting from the field. Unfortunately, numerous turnovers by Cal Maritime did not allow them to create any distance and the first half ended with Cal Maritime up by only four points.
In the second half, Holy Names came out on fire and quickly took the lead. They maintained this lead until just over a minute to go as they held a 57-52 lead. Instead of folding in this tenuous situation, the Keelhaulers showed great resolve and were led once again by their seniors. Senior Josh Greenwell earned a tough two points to bring the score to 57-54. After a Holy Names' miss fellow senior Isaiah Moore grabbed tough rebound. On the offensive end, Cal Maritime's Ty Houghton made a great pass to Moore who calmly drilled a three pointer to tie the game at 57. Holy Names pulled ahead 58-57 after splitting a pair of free throws with 8 seconds remaining. After a timeout, Cal Maritime found Moore who brought the ball quickly up the court. In the process, he was fouled and sent to the line with 3.7 seconds on the clock. Further establishing himself as one of the top players in the conference, Moore calmly sank both free throws to give the visitors a 59-58 lead. Holy Names had one final shot to win the game but the attempt was just off the mark and the Keelhaulers stayed perfect in conference.
"We told the players at halftime this would one that they would not forget. For a while in the second half, it looked like we would be having painful memories. Holy Names was playing very well and they were the more aggressive team. However, I was extremely proud of our commitment to stay together and then in the last minute we had some guys step up and make championships plays," commented Head Coach Bryan Rooney.
The Keelhaulers close out conference play this Thursday as they host Menlo College at 7:30pm. Thursday also marks Senior Night where the Cal Maritime program will celebrate seven special seniors.
Go Keelhaulers!!!!