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Senior team captain Adam Brazil equaled his career-high with a game-high 23 points, while fellow senior Davidson Hubbard added 13 points on Thursday night as No. 6 Hampden-Sydney College cruised to a 67-46 home win. 

Playing a home game against No. 25 Swarthmore (PA) College, the Tigers (8-1) led 31-16 at halftime and used a 12-4 run midway through the second half to thwart a comeback attempt by the visiting Garnet (7-3). The home crowd also gave a welcome to newly hired football coach Vince Luvara, who was introduced, along with his wife Stacey, by Hampden-Sydney Athletics Director Chad Eisele before tipoff. 

“Big shout-out to our new football coach, Vince Luvara and his wife Stacey,” said Tigers head coach Caleb Kimbrough. “Excited for this new era of Tiger football. Also, great win against a very well-coached team tonight. We play defense like that and we will beat a lot of teams. We knew they would go on a run in the second half at some point and I thought our guys took some steps in how we responded.”

Breaking down the game

In a battle of Top 25 teams, Hampden-Sydney College jumped out to an early 9-2 advantage at 15:55 behind five quick points by Hubbard, and baskets from senior team captain Josiah Hardy and Brazil. The Tigers extended the lead to 19-4 with 11:27 on the first-half clock after a three-pointer by sophomore Shane Fernald, off the bench, along with a three-pointer from senior Alex Elliott, as well as baskets by Hubbard and senior DJ Wright, off the bench. A floater in the lane by Brazil, followed by a jumper and layup from Hardy had the Garnet & Grey ahead 25-7 at 8:12. The home team maintained the comfortable margin with its stellar effort on the defensive end of the floor and led 31-16 at the intermission-Hubbard scoring nine first-half points, while Brazil and Hardy each scored six points during the opening 20 minutes.

SC started fast to begin the second half as DeAngelo scored 10 quick points during a 10-2 run, including two three-pointers, to close to within 33-26 at 15:39. The visitors trailed 40-33 with 10:29 remaining after layup by DeAngelo, but that was as close as it would get … with Brazil answering back with five-straight points of his own to push the margin back to 45-33 at 9:42.

Hampden-Sydney College continued on its decisive 12-4 run to lead 52-37 with 6:24 left to play as Fernald added four points, including a pair of free throws, and Elliott connected on a three-pointer, assisted by Fernald. The Tigers extended the advantage to 20 points at 59-39 on a pair of free throws by fifth-year Ryan Clements that followed a three-pointer and jumper from Brazil. The Garnet & Grey secured the outcome with the final six points of the contest scored by Hubbard on an offensive rebound basket, a steal and two-handed slam dunk from Clements and a jumper by Brazil.  

Hampden-Sydney College, by the numbers 

Brazil led Hampden-Sydney with his game-high 23 points, adding three rebounds, three assists and one steal. Hubbard finished with his 13 points for the Tigers, adding seven rebounds. Clements and Elliott each contributed eight points, with Clements adding a game-high five steals along with three assists. Fernald had seven points off the bench, while Hardy added six points, five rebounds and three assists. H-SC shot 45% (25-56) from the field, including 40% (6-15) on three-pointers, and 92% (11-12) at the free throw line. The Tigers enjoyed a 2 8-12 advantage in points off turnovers-forcing 21 miscues-and had a 24-16 advantage in points scored in the paint.

DeAngelo led SC with his 17 points, including 3-7 three-pointers. Michael Caprise added a double-double with 11 points and a game-high 11 rebounds for the Garnet. SC shot 30% (13-43) from the field, including 25% (5-20) on three-pointers, and 71% (15-21) at the line. 

Up next for Hampden-Sydney College

Hampden-Sydney will play on the road at non-conference opponent and nationally-ranked No. 1 John Carroll University on Tuesday, Dec. 19, at 2 p.m. in University Heights, Ohio.