All Six Players Score Double-Digits as Harford Men’s Basketball Downs Salem, 93-66

From the HCC sports desk:

BEL AIR, Md.—Freshman Troy Burgan (Akron, Ohio/North) notched his first career triple-double as the Harford men’s basketball team defeated Salem, 93-66, on Monday night at Susquehanna Center.

The Fighting Owls (6-11) snapped a four-game losing streak, while the Oaks (0-16) remain winless on the season.

Burgan tallied 10 points on 5-for-9 shooting and pulled down 11 rebounds, while dishing out 10 assists as he played every minute of the game, but it was freshman Chris Pappas (Fallston, Md./Fallston) who led the Owls with a career-high 21 points on 6-for-13 shooting, including 3-for-6 from behind the arc and 6-for-9 from the line. All six Harford players tallied double-digit points as sophomore Ian Hill (Richmond, Va./Douglas Freeman/Walters State) totaled 17 points, freshmen Jesse Volk (Bel Air, Md./C. Milton Wright) and Lionel Perkins (Bel Air, Md./Bel Air) each tallied 16 points, and freshman Kevin Mead (Fawn Grove, Pa./Kennard-Dale) added 13 points.

Jose Soto, Tyriek Huddleson, and Matt Edelman each tallied double-doubles for Salem, with Soto putting up 22 points and grabbing 12 rebounds, while Huddleson totaled 17 points and 14 boards and Edelman scored 15 points and nabbed 11 rebounds.

The Owls jumped to an early, 5-0, lead in the first half with a fast break layup by Volk off the opening tip and a trey by Lionel Perkins, before Matt Edelman put the Oaks on the board with a layup.

Harford would lead by as many as nine, 16-7 with 16:00 left, before Salem battled back with a 12-6 run to come within three points of the Owls, 22-19 with 9:44 remaining.

After trading baskets twice, the Oaks were still down by three, 24-21, with 9:00 to go, but a steal by Eric Williams on the ensuing Harford possession set up a layup by Soto, to put Salem within one, 26-25, with 7:41 remaining in the period.

A 3-pointer by Volk at 7:32 put the Owls up by three, 29-25, at 7:32 and sparked a 14-0 run over the next 4:52, as the Owls took a 39-25 advantage with 2:40 left, before Matt Edelman tallied the Oaks first field goal in over five minutes with a layup at 1:58.

A dish from Burgan set Hill up for a dunk to give Harford the 14-point lead and after Pappas tacked on two free throws, Burgan set up Volk for the alley-oop dunk to make the Owls lead 18, 45-27, with 28 seconds left. Soto tacked on a layup to cut it to 16, but Burgan and Volk connected again as time expired to give Harford a 47-29 lead at the half.

Pappas notched the first bucket of the second half with a trey that put the Owls up by 21, but a made free throw, missed free throw, and an eventual tip-in all by Eric Williams saw Salem down by 18 with 18:23 to go.

After trading buckets twice, Perkins put Harford up by 20 with a layup and, after a steal by Volk, added a jumper to give the Owls a 22 point lead, 58-36 with 15:45 remaining.

Some more back and forth action ensued, before Hill buried a jumper to put Harford up by 22, 62-40 with 13:10 left, only to have Eric Williams cut the lead to 19 with a trey at 12:57. Volk and Burgan connected on a fast break, this time with Burgan finishing the dunk and after a Oak turnover on the next possession, Pappas notched an and-one layup to give Harford its largest lead of the game, 67-43 with just under 12:00 to play.

A tip-in by Eric Williams would cut the advantage to 22 before a Pappas steal triggered a 7-0 run, started by a Hill dunk off Pappas’ feed, to give Harford the 74-45 lead with nine minutes left.

A 10-4 run by Salem put the Oaks down by 22, 78-56, with 5:36 left, but the Owls would build the lead back up and take their largest lead of 31 points on two occasions, before Salem recorded two layups in the final minute on the way to the 93-66 Harford win.

The Fighting Owls return to action on Wednesday when they host Allegany for a 6:00 p.m. game.

Newspaper Box Score
Salem vs Harford
1/12/09 7:00 p.m. at Bel Air, Md.
At Bel Air, Md.
HARFORD 93, SALEM 66
SALEM (0-16)
Soto, Jose 11-26 0-2 22; Huddleson, Tyriek 7-17 3-5 17; Edelman, Matt 6-8
3-3 15; Williams, Eric 4-11 3-6 12; Edelman, Jim 0-7 0-0 0. Totals 28-69
9-16 66.
HARFORD (6-11)
Pappas,Chris 6-13 6-9 21; Hill,Ian 8-12 1-3 17; Volk,Jesse 7-11 0-0 16;
Perkins,Lionel 6-18 2-3 16; Mead,Kevin 5-10 1-2 13; Burgan,Troy 5-9 0-0 10.
Totals 37-73 10-17 93.
Salem 29 37 66
Harford 47 46 93
3-point goals–Salem 1-9 (Williams, Eric 1-4; Huddleson, Tyriek 0-2;
Edelman, Jim 0-3), Harford 9-28 (Pappas,Chris 3-6; Perkins,Lionel 2-7;
Volk,Jesse 2-4; Mead,Kevin 2-7; Burgan,Troy 0-4). Fouled out–Salem-None,
Harford-None. Rebounds–Salem 44 (Huddleson, Tyriek 14), Harford 43
(Burgan,Troy 11). Assists–Salem 10 (Williams, Eric 4; Huddleson, Tyriek 4),
Harford 22 (Burgan,Troy 10). Total fouls–Salem 17, Harford 13. Technical
fouls–Salem-None, Harford-None. A-47