In a game of contrasting halves, Gannon immediately cut into Urbana’s 41-24 halftime lead with the first 11 points of the second half. Kareem Brown (New London, Conn./New London) kick started the blitz with a three-pointer 48 seconds into the stanza.
Travis Brannen (Elmira, N.Y./Elmira Free Academy) and Kelvin Agee (Niagara Falls, N.Y./Niagara Falls) followed with a pair of baskets each. Brannen’s jumper at the 15:18 mark cut the deficit to 41-35. In all, the Golden Knights held the Blue Knights scoreless for the first five minutes and 13 seconds of the second half until Dyrell Dolson stopped the run with a jumper.
Urbana built its lead back to nine points on three different occasions during the next five minutes and 27 seconds, only to see Gannon rally back every time. Down 54-45, Brown ignited another run as he did before with a three-pointer.
Brown, Agee and Tanner Furno (Columbus, Ohio/Whetstone) combined to produce an 11-2 run that eventually tied the game at 65 on Agee’s fastbreak jumper with 6:38 showing on the clock. It represented the game’s first tie since midway through the first half.
The back-and-forth contest featured four ties over the next 3:59, but Gannon was unable to grab the lead. Urbana scored on all four possessions after Gannon tied the game. Ramel Mitchell snapped the final tie with a three-pointer at the 3:47 mark.
Brannen and Brown countered with jumpers on Gannon’s next two possessions, but Urbana answered with three-pointers after each Gannon score. The Blue Knights hit three consecutive three-pointers during the decisive action. Mitchell’s second triple in less than two minutes put the home team back in control at 71-66 with 2:36 to play.
Gannon followed with three consecutive misfires, before Sharif Muhammad’s lay-up with 1:05 remaining gave Urbana a seven-point advantage. The Blue Knights went 6-of-6 from the free throw line in the final 43 seconds to seal the 79-70 victory.
The first half saw three ties and was close through the first 12 minutes. However, Urbana exploded in the final eight minutes. Leading 21-20, the Blue Knights out-scored the Golden Knights 20-4 the rest of the way. Urbana was 8-of-14 from the field while Gannon hit only 2-of-9 from the floor with seven turnovers during that time frame.
Brown led all scorers with 21 points and eight rebounds, hitting 8-of-15 overall shots and 5-of-10 three-point attempts. Agee recorded his first career double-double with 15 points, 12 rebounds and six assists. Furno completed the double-digit scorers with 12 points.
Gannon shot 47.8 percent (32-67) from the field, including a 56.8-percent (21-37) clip in the second half. The Golden Knights shot 29.4 percent (5-17) from three-point range and 33.3 percent (1-3) from the free throw line.
Robert Wilson headlined Urbana’s unit with a double-double, posting 21 points and 10 rebounds. Marcus Pearl had 12 points off the bench. Dolson and Mitchell chipped in 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Urbana shot 41.5 percent (27-65) from the floor, 46.7 percent (7-15) from behind the arc and 75 percent (18-24) from the charity stripe. In addition to going to the free throw line 21 more times, the Blue Knights held advantages in points off turnovers (22-12) and bench points (25-12).
Gannon dropped to 2-1 overall with its first loss of the season and sixth consecutive road setback dating back to last season. Urbana moved to 2-7 while snapping a four-game losing streak and winning its third straight over Gannon. The Golden Knights return to action Tuesday, December 7 at 2010 NCAA Division II Tournament participant Central State. Game time is scheduled for 7:30 p.m.
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