CUMBERLAND — Prince George’s offense shot the lights out in the first half, leading to a 91-79 win over Allegany College on Wednesday at Bob Kirk Arena.
“Ugly basketball by us,” ACM head coach Tommie Reams said. “Didn’t do a lot of the little things that it takes to be successful in the game against a good team like PG. Too many bad transition defense opportunities, too many wide open catch-and-shoot 3s by their better shooters.”
The Owls (17-4) hold the best record in Region 20 and put 51 points on the scoreboard in the first half after shooting 21 of 35 (60%) from the field and 5 of 13 (39%) from deep.
ACM was down three players due to illness — Jaylen Brown, Darrien Ponder and Elijah Hall.
Brown averages 16.6 points, 6.3 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 2.6 steals.
Ponder averages 16.2 points with 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 dimes while Hall scores 12 points with 3.5 boards and 3.2 assists.
“Three of our starters and about 50% of our offense was off the floor tonight,” Reams said. “But it wasn’t so much the offense that was the problem. We clearly miss their leadership and toughness and that maturity that comes with those three guys. They’re three of our better perimeter defenders and that’s where I really felt PG hurt us tonight.”
The Trojans (12-6) opened on a 12-8 run off of nine points by Dorell Little.
A pair of layups from Dyan Carter and Lynn King III evened the score at 12, then Brazil Hutchinson hit a triple at the top of the key to put the Owls ahead.
Hutchinson scored a game-high 19 points with five rebounds and a steal.
From 13:54 left in the first half on, Prince George’s never trailed the rest of the game.
“Kind of two-fold, I thought it started with our offense,” Reams said. “I thought we took too many rushed shots that allowed PG to get out in transition. And then we failed to pick up some shooters in high presses.”
Little’s layup with 9:14 remaining cut ACM’s deficit to 24-20, but the Trojans were unable to get any closer in the first half.
Little scored 11 of his 17 points before halftime and added four boards, three assists and two steals.
The Owls ended the first half on a 27-15 run and led 51-35 at break.
Allegany shot 15 of 37 (40%) from the field and 5 of 10 (50%) from deep.
Midway through the second half, King came up with a steal that led to a Tyler Donald layup.
Now trailing 82-57 with 7:29 to play, the Trojans got within 12 points on a Manny Okitondo layup with 3:35 left.
Prince George’s pushed the lead back to 14 points on an offensive rebound by Carter that he turned into a dunk with 1:50 play.
Justin Gilmore cut it to 91-79 on a layup with 52 seconds remaining, but it was too late for a comeback.
“Little bit of too little, too late,” Reams said. “Couple stretches there we were down 12 where we gave them three consecutive offensive rebounds that pushes it to 14. And it’s like that is probably what will seal this game, those extended possessions and Prince George’s willingness to slow the tempo down.”
Gilmore scored 15 points with six assists, four boards and a steal while Okitondo finished with a double-double of 14 rebounds, 12 points and a steal.
Alex Byrd also had a double-double with 12 points, 11 rebounds and a steal.
Willie Rivera Jr. and Kadon Fossett each scored 16 points for the Owls.
Rivera Jr. added seven rebounds and three assists while Fossett added three boards, three assists and a steal.
Allegany is scheduled to play at Cecil (11-7), weather permitting, on Saturday at 3 p.m.
“Another good basketball team, always well coached,” Reams said. “Tough, physical, have good size on the inside. They are very aggressive in the full court press and then they fall into a morphing 2-3 zone. So if we don’t come to play on a long bus trip on Saturday, we could be in for a long afternoon.”