Knights Fend Off Pesky Tempe, 83-58

Tempe - Junior forward Jeremiah Cherry had an efficient outing connecting on all 6 of his shots en route to a 20-point, 6 rebound performance leading Saint Mary's to a 83-58 win at Tempe. Cherry ran the floor well and quickly posted and established his presence down in the paint that led to easy buckets or fouls on the Tempe defense. Cherry made 8 of his 10 free throw attempts and grabbed 8 rebounds for the Knights. "We felt we had to establish our inside game as much as possible against Tempe," stated Cherry, "Once our inside game is flowing,  it opens up perimeter play for us."

Cherry's frontcourt mate, junior forward Foune Doucoure, also had his most productive performance as a Knight, pouring in 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Doucoure made 8 of his 9 shot attempts in helping the Knights shoot over 64% on the evening. "I thought we did a nice job of moving the ball and getting assists," said Doucoure, "It's been a learning experience for me and sometimes I think I'm out there over thinking the game rather than just playing, but these past two games has been a little better."

Sophomore Jason Fontenet continued his impressive offensive showing making 6 of his 9 shot attempts, scoring 16 points, dishing out 5 assists and having one turnover. "Our goal was to force the tempo and get them to play fast like us." stated Fontenet. Fontenet prides himself on making the right play every time down the floor as he continues to show flashes of becoming an elite point guard for the Knights. 

Freshman guard Styles Phipps added 12 points and 8 assists to one turnover for Saint Mary's. "I'm just so proud of the play of our point guards and posts," said Coach Lopez, "anytime two of your point guards go for 28/14 (points/assists) and have just two turnovers, you're going to win a lot of games."

Junior guard Garrison Phelps added 9 points, 4 rebounds and 3 assists as the Knights were a point away from having 5 guys in double figures. Junior wing Jacob Estrella added 8, Sophomore Seydou Tamboura added 5, and senior guard Isaac Mendoza closed out the scouring by hitting one of his two 3-point shot attempts and finishing with 3 points.

The Knights wil finally be back home, hosting the Peoria Panthers on Thursday, February 4th at Bool Gymnasium in the second installment of Hoophall West. The game will be televised live on YouTube with Chris Fahrendorf and Alex Coil on the call for the broadcast. Game time is 7 p.m.

Upcoming:

Thursday, February 4th, home vs. Peoria. Live on YouTube at: https://youtu.be/T6ECaMgykn4

Friday, February 5th, home vs. Thunderbird. JV-A and JV-B teams ONLY, no Varsity game. Game times remain 4:00 p.m. and 5:30 p.m.