With Minaya and Goodine already out with an illness, PC guard Jared Bynum went down with an ankle/foot injury. PC led by one after the first half, and this felt like one PC just needed to survive and advance. Horchler and Watson went to work to punish a pesky St Peter’s squad en route to a 85-71 victory Saturday afternoon. Let’s look at the takeaways.
1. Hot Shooting Horchler Keeps Friars Afloat- Noah Horchler truly earned the moniker Thor in this one. His 8-8 start to the game were the heroics the Friars needed when faced with adversity. Horchler finished with 25 points on 9/10 shooting with 11 rebounds and 5 assists. He was scorching hot shooting, tough as nails rebounding, and had the connection with Nate Watson feeding him buckets- what heroes are made of.
2. Nate Watson Post Thanksgiving FEAST- Horchler may have been the Friars best player today, but Nate Watson really started to assert himself in the second half. Watson scored 16 of his 23 points in the second half, just bullying his way to buckets. Watson also added 6 rebounds, 2 blocks and was 7-7 from the line, so no push-ups this weekend!
3. Mr. 200- This win against St. Peter’s marked the 200th for Ed Cooley at Providence College. It’s a historic feat for Ed as he joins only Dave Gavitt and Joe Mullaney in the 200 club. I don’t think it gets appreciated enough what Ed has been able to do for this program. Ed came to town my senior year and to think of where the program was then to what it is now is almost a miracle. Here’s to 200 more Ed!
4. Friars Look to Get Healthy for Big Stretch Coming Up- As we mentioned in the opening PC came into this one without Justin Minaya and Brycen Goodine due to illness. Midway through the first half starting point guard Jared Bynum went down with what appeared to be an ankle/foot injury. He did not return to the game and was seen on the bench in a walking boot. Here’s to hoping it’s a bad ankle sprain and he can return soon. PC survived without these guys against St Peter’s but will hope to get most of them back for this upcoming stretch. PC hosts Texas Tech Wednesday and then the Battle for the Ocean State on Saturday. PC will host a strong program in Vermont shortly thereafter. If PC can come away from this stretch at least 2-1, a top-25 ranking going into conference play may be attainable (as BOC boldly predicted). Getting these guys healthy is PC’s number one priority right now.
Next on Tap
12/1- vs Texas Tech 8:30pm FS1
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Check that final score.