Gophers Roll Past Central Bayamon in Puerto Rico

SAN JUAN, P.R. — Kevin Miles (District Heights, Md./Gwynn Park) led the way with 21 points, while Jordan Young (Washington, D.C./McLean School of Maryland) added a career-high 15 points off the bench to help Goucher overcome a slow start in a 90-64 victory over Central Bayamon this afternoon.

The Gophers (2-8) led 22-19 with 6:21 remaining in the first half before ending the frame on a 22-9 run to take control.

That stretch began with a four-point play from Miles, who has now gone over 20 points in three consecutive games. Goucher then sank three free throws on a possession extended by a Central Bayamon technical foul. That extended its advantage to double-digits for the first time.

A jumper by Zachary Hall (Catonsville, Md./Catonsville) at the buzzer made it 44-28 heading into the intermission. Miles and Young both reached double figures in the opening 20 minutes.

Central Bayamon had a brief spurt to begin the second half, aided by a trio of early 3-pointers from Arturo Martinez. The last of those jumpers cut the Gopher lead to 48-41.

The margin was still seven points, at 54-47 with 13:20 to go, when a layup from Young began a 9-0 run that put the game out of reach. Ibraham Kallon (Silver Spring, Md./Wheaton) followed Young's basket with a thunderous dunk, while a jumper from Jesse Mondry (Medford, Ore./South Medford) and three more made free throws completed the run. Goucher had 37 attempts at the charity stripe compared to 17 for Central Bayamon, and the Gophers converted on 26 of those chances.

The lead grew to as large as 27 points in the closing minutes as Goucher made sure to end its winter break trip to Puerto Rico on a high note.

Alex Noble (Clinton, Md./Surrattsville) came a rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 10 points and nine boards, and Chris Outing (New Windsor, N.Y./James I. O'Neill) grabbed 11 rebounds to reach double-digits in that category for the third time this season. Tucker Canary (Silver Spring, Md./Montgomery Blair) added five assists to go along with strong defensive play off the bench.

The Gophers now have an extended break before a challenging matchup against Amherst on January 2. The Jeffs (5-2) reached the NCAA Final Four last season and are currently ranked 15th in the nation by D3hoops.com this year.