GAME OF THE WEEK: Uniontown rallies past Albert Gallatin, 67-59
John F. Brothers | Herald-Standard
Albert Gallatin’s Tavian Mozie (15) passes the ball to a teammate as he is guarded by Uniontown’s Trent Uphold during Friday’s FCCA Tip-Off Tournament at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Uniontown's Lorenzo Oden ducks under Albert Gallatin's Tavian Mozie (15) during their FCCA Tip-Off Tournament on Friday at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Oden was the game's leading scorer with 23, while Mozie led the Colonials with 22 points.
Albert Gallatin’s Tavian Mozie goes up for two during the Colonials’ game against Uniontown in the FCCA Tip-Off Tournament at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus. Mozie scored his 1,000th point last night.
Uniontown's Mike Jones pushes the ball up court while be pressured by Albert Gallatin's Marques Moore (2) during the FCCA Tip-Off Tournament on Friday at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Uniontown's Kam Fitzgerald (5) tries to block the shot of Albert Gallatin's Matt Rankin during their FCCA Tip-Off Tournament on Friday at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
Albert Gallatin's Marques Moore is double teamed by Uniontown's Kam Fitzgerald (5) and Mike Jones during their FCCA Tip-Off Tournament game on Friday at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
It wasn’t pretty but Uniontown used a strong second half to rally past Albert Gallatin, 67-59, on Friday in the Fayette County Coaches Association Tip-Off Tournament at Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus.
“The bottom is that was a very gutsy win,” Uniontown coach Rob Kezmarsky said. “We didn’t play that well, but give AG credit, they played hard and it was an exciting game. The only thing that matters is we’re 1-0.”
The Red Raiders (1-0) avenged two losses last season to coach Shea Fleenor’s Colonials (0-1). The two teams meet again next Friday at Uniontown with the tip-off scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
“That game (next Friday) will be the first time since I’ve been coaching here that my kids will play in Uniontown’s gym,” Fleenor said. “I know it’s a different gym and all from the old one, but that’s a big thing for my kids to play there will all the tradition.”
The Raiders committed 23 turnovers while AG gave the ball away 25 times. Uniontown was 26 of 40 at the foul line while Albert Gallatin was 12 of 25.
“We played pretty well in the first half, but give credit to Uniontown, they kept fighting and I knew they would,” Fleenor said. “I told the guys at halftime that they would not stop coming and continue to press. We missed some opportunities to increase the lead before halftime.”
Red Raider senior point guard Lorenzo Oden scored 23 points on five field goals, including two 3-pointers, and was 11-for-16 at the foul line. Colonial senior guard Tavian Mozie scored a team-high 22 points on seven field goals, including two from behind the arc, and was 6-for-8 at the line.
“We were glad to get some revenge against Albert Gallatin after losing twice to them last year,” Oden said. “We came out rusty in the first half and had a lot of turnovers, but we came back in the second half and limited our turnovers. I’m a senior this year, the point guard and the other guys rely on me to be a leader.
“Tavian (Mozie) is a great player that is very explosive and I wished him luck after the game.”
Uniontown trailed 32-21 at halftime, as AG capitalized on 13 first-half turnovers by the Red Raiders, but Kezmarsky’s team outscored the Colonials, 17-7, in the third quarter to trail, 39-38, heading into the fourth.
The Raiders opened up the first four minutes of the third with a 10-4 run that was capped by an Oden 3-pointer to cut the lead to 36-31.
AG extended its lead to eight at 39-31, but Uniontown freshman Billy DeShields made a 3-pointer to cut the deficit to 39-34. DeShields, who is the first freshman to play for the Raiders during Kezmarsky’s tenure, added two free throws for five points in his first varsity game.
“That shows you what kind of kid he (DeShields) is to be playing varsity for us,” Kezmarsky said. “We are also counting on our juniors that played. They are big parts of our game. We had Trent Uphold, Reginald Grooms, Giovani Marian and Kam Fitzgerald play tonight and get a lot of important minutes for us.”
The Raiders scored the final four points of the third quarter.
Uniontown took its first lead (40-39) in the first minute of play in the final quarter when Anthony Brown scored inside for two of his seven points. The Raiders extended their lead to 44-41, but Colby Uphold’s 3-pointer tied the game at 44-44. Uphold added seven points for AG.
Uniontown held a slim 48-47 when Uphold was fouled while scoring to give the Raiders a 50-47 advantage.
Uphold went to the foul line and made his shot, but the Colonials were given a technical foul for having six players on the floor, and the Raiders were awarded two shots and possession.
Mike Jones, who finished with eight points, made the two free throws for the technical and Uphold converted on his foul shot for the personal foul and Uniontown held a 53-47 lead with 4:20 remaining.
“That technical ended up being kind of a big turn around but it did not cost us the game,” Fleenor said. “I didn’t think it should have went down the way it did and I completely disagree with what was called, but the guys have got to fight through that.
“There are a million other plays in the game. We need to make our layups, foul shots and get a defensive rebound when we should. We didn’t stop Uniontown from penetrating the lane and they got easy shots.”
Both teams played the remaining of the game even, and despite the efforts of Mozie, who made two 3-pointers in the final 3:18, the Raiders held on for the victory.
Albert Gallatin jumped out to an early 8-0 lead in the first, as Uniontown committed four turnovers in the early going. Marques Moore scored five of his 17 points with a three pointer and a two-point field goal for the Colonials.
AG increased its lead to 14-4 after Mozie scored on a floater, but the Raiders outscored the Colonials, 6-2, to trail 16-10 after one quarter of play.
Albert Gallatin continued to play strong in the second, and held a 28-15 lead after Nate Bricker put in a field goal for two of his six points. AG extended its lead to 30-17 with 1:18 left in the second after Mozie made a free throw, and took an 11-point lead into halftime.
“We are going to need some other guys to step up other than Tavian (Mozie),” Fleenor said. “We are replacing some double-figure scorers from last year in Tanner Kutek and Davey Knox, so other guys have to step up into roles.
“I thought Matt (Rankin) did some good things tonight. He hasn’t been able to practice the last two and a half weeks with a shoulder injury, so tonight was basically his first time back on the floor. He was probably only 75-80 percent tonight.”
Malaky Howard added 10 points for the Raiders and Fitzgerald had nine.
Rankin added six points for Albert Gallatin.
Both teams return to the court today with Uniontown playing Connellsville (0-1) and the Colonials battling Waynesburg Central (0-1).
FCCA Tip-Off Tournament
At Penn State Fayette, The Eberly Campus
Uniontown 10 11 17 29 — 67
Albert Gallatin 16 16 7 20 — 59
Albert Gallatin: Tavian Mozie 22, Marques Moore 17. Uniontown: Lorenzo Oden 23, Malaky Howard 10. Records: Uniontown (1-0), Uniontown (0-1).