(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert men’s basketball team dropped its season opening game to Justice College 82-73 at Legacy Sports Park in Mesa, Ariz. The Bucs drop to 0-1 on the season.
The Buccaneers got off to a solid start holding a 42-28 lead at halftime behind 48 percent shooting from the floor and solid defense, holding Justice to 33 percent from the floor. Transfer post Evan Hoosier had 11 first half points on 5-9 shooting from the floor.
But after a fire and brimstone tongue lashing from their head coach, the Lions came out in the second half with a renewed focus and energy. The Lions shot 55 percent from the floor in the second stanza and held the Bucs to 37 percent.
The Lions made this comeback inside the three point arc as they shot a lowly 19 percent from beyond the arc. Demetrius Valdez led the way for Justice with 26 point. Nineteen of his points came in the second half as he made multiple acrobatic shots to fire up the Lions bench.
The Bucs finished shooting 43 percent from the floor and 33 percent from three, while Justice shot 44 percent from the floor and an impressive 78 percent from the free throw line. Park hurt itself at the charity stripe only shooting 60 percent, including 7-13 in the second half.
Individually, Hoosier had 19 points and 15 rebounds to lead the Bucs scoring and rebounding efforts, followed by point guard LC Ballard with 15 points and junior transfer Caleb Ivy with 10.
The Bucs have a chance to get the bad taste of this loss out of its mouth on Thursday, November 2 at 7 p.m. as they host Bellevue at the PHH Facility in Phoenix.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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