Simba FrenchSend an emailJanuary 19, 2023 213 2 minute readFacebookTwitterLinkedInShare via Email
Bahamian collegiate basketball players Sammy Hunter, Garvin Clarke Jr. and Fredrick King were in action on Tuesday night, helping their teams pick up wins.
Hunter and Clarke were in action for the University of Akron Zips and they got past Central Michigan University, 69-51, at the McGuirk Arena in Mount Pleasant, Michigan. It was their third straight victory. They sport a 12-6 win/loss record on the season and a 4-1 record in the Mid-American Conference (MAC).
After losing two straight games, King and the Creighton University Bluejays have now won two straight. In their latest game, they prevailed over the Butler University Bulldogs, 73-52, at the Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Indiana. The win gives the Bluejays an 11-8 record on the season and a 5-3 record in Big East action.
For the Zips against Central Michigan, Hunter finished in double digits in scoring for the third straight game, coming away with 12 points. He scored 13 and 19 points in his previous two games. He was back in the starting lineup and went 4-for-5 from the field, including 2-for-3 from deep. The junior played 17 minutes and added two rebounds and an assist. Clarke played six minutes but made a three-point shot to finish with three points and also added one rebound.
It was not the start that the Zips wanted as they got themselves into a 7-0 hole early in the game. They bounced back and took a 13-10 lead on a shot from deep from Hunter. That shot came with 12:28 left in the first half. At the end of the first half, the Zips had a 36-26 lead, shooting a blistering 52 percent from the field.
The Zips shot 33.3 percent from the field in the second half but outscored Central Michigan, 33-25, to come away with the victory. Clarke’s only made shot in the second half came at the 2:05 mark to put the Zips up 69-42.
Hunter and Clarke will be back in action when the Zips go on the road to the Read Fieldhouse in Kalamazoo, Michigan, to play Western Michigan. That game will take place on Saturday and get underway at 2:30 p.m.
For the Bluejays, King made four of his seven attempts from the field to finish with eight points in eight minutes on the floor. The freshman also grabbed three rebounds and blocked a shot.
Creighton played the inside game early on and King went to work and showed what he could do. The Andros native scored six straight points on layups for the Bluejays to put them up 26-19. The Bluejays led 36-28 at the half.
King made his final field goal of the night at the 12:21 mark of the second half. He had a layup to put his team up 53-39 at that point. They held on for the win as they kept a double-digit lead. The Bulldogs never led in the second half.
In the end, the Bluejays won the battle in the paint, 44-20. Overall, the Bluejays shot 46.9 percent while holding the Bulldogs to just 34.5 percent shooting from the field.
With the win, Bluejays’ head coach Greg McDermott earned his 100th Big East regular season victory.
The Bluejays will have the rest of the week off and return to action on Wednesday, January 25 in a home game against the St. John’s Red Storm. That game will be played on their home floor at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, Nebraska..