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Second row, left to right: Stephen Kidd, Allen Onyia, Nonso Ebede, Eli Cerda, Ceddrick Brown, Coach Kevin Woods
First row, left to right: Jason Lowe, Hector Brambila, Anthony Robinson, Courtney Arceneaux
Missing: Xavier Brown
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UHD Gators bite off another championship
Men's team claims second basketball title in three years |
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December 2, 2007. University of Houston-Downtown, Houston Texas.
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| The University of Houston-Downtown men’s basketball club team delivered an early Christmas present this year to the campus by bringing home their second NHMCCD Sports Club Conference title in three years by defeating the Kingwood College Coyotes 46-38 at the UHD Student Life Center. UHD pounced early on Kingwood College by opening up the game on an 9-2 run which forced the Coyotes to take an early time-out three minutes into the game. The Gators maintained the upper hand throughout the first half and went into the locker room at halftime with a 25-17 lead. However, Kingwood turned the tables in the second half as they became the aggressors and slowly fought their way back into the game by outscoring the Gators 18-8 over the first sixteen minutes of the second half to take a 35-33 lead with 4:13 left to play. UHD was struggling offensively getting only four points in the game from the entire backcourt which played tremendously in the semi-final game. Meanwhile, the front court was forcing bad shots and getting out rebounded. But just went it seemed when all hope was sinking into the muddy bayou right outside the gym, the Gators righted the ship. UHD’s Allen Onyia hit a lay-up from the left baseline to knot the score up at 35 with 3:33 left. The Coyotes then hit a jumper to go back up by two, 37-35, with three minutes to go. That would be the last time Kingwood College would make a field goal. UHD’s Nonso Ebede and a stifling Gator defense then took over the game and shut the Coyotes. The Gators fed Ebede down low on three consecutive possessions and the big center responded with three straight lay-ups at the rim. Ebede was unstoppable, beating single coverage and double teams with his signature spin move, the “Nonso shake”. The UHD defense suffocated the Coyotes in the last three minutes by forcing hurried shots, turnovers, timely rebounding and flat-out hustle. The Gators closed out the game on a 9-1 run. Despite missing forwards Steven Kidd due to an ankle injury suffered in the semi-final game and Xavier Brown, the UHD front court was the story of this game as they scored 42 of the team’s 46 points. Onyia led all scorers with 19 points that included timely lay-ups and free throws down the stretch. Ebede scored 16 points and had at least one monstrous blocked shot. Gator forwards Eli Cerda and Ceddrick Brown contributed strong defense, tough rebounding and tons of hustle. Kingwood College was led in scoring by Eric Nlemchi with 10 points and Melvin Roberts with 8 points. |
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The Gators, under the tutelage of Coach Kevin Woods, finished the 2007 season with a record of 10-1. The top-seeded Gators avenged their only defeat of the season which was back in September at the hands of Kingwood College . Gators Ebede and Onyia were named to the NHMCCD Sport Conference all-tournament team. Also making the all tournament team was Charles Cunningham, Kingwood College ; Aaron Hall, Cy Fair College and Kevin Lewis, North Harris College . |
In their earlier semi-final game, UHD also settled a previous score by soundly defeating North Harris College 46-32. North Harris defeated UHD for last year's title. The UHD backcourt was the story of this game. The Gator's three-point assassin, Anthony Robinson, opened up the tournament by hitting three straight treys to outscore North Harris by himself 9-0. Along with Robinson, guards Jason Lowe, Hector Brambila and Courtney Arceneaux provided half of the team's scoring as well as causing turnovers while controlling the game tempo. UHD led 26-16 at the half. The closest that North Harris would get in the second half was seven points at the thirteen minute mark. The UHD front court then re-took control of the game by crashing the boards and limiting the Hurricanes to one shot on nearly every possession. Robinson led the balanced UHD scoring attack with 11 points, Lowe and Ebede added 7 points. Kevin Lewis led North Harris with 13 points. |
UHD won the conference's first men's basketball title in the fall of 2005. The Gators were on their way to a second straight title in 2006 when injuries and unavailable players left them with only five players for the tournament. Despite that, the Gators made it to the championship game before losing a heart-breaker in overtime to North Harris College . If not for those unfortunate circumstances last year, the Gators would be talking about a three-peat right now. And speaking of basketball championships, the UHD women's team does not take a backseat to the men. The UHD women will enter the upcoming spring season as the defending conference champion. |
While the team will not have a street parade in their honor, they will be recognized at the 12 th Annual Sports & Fitness Awards Banquet in May at the UHD Special Events Center . |
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