MIAMI – URBE University strengthened it hold atop the NSAC men’s basketball standings over the weekend while injury-riddled Lighthouse Christian stumbled twice in the NSAC Citrus Classic at Jose Marti Center Gym.
Play opened on Friday afternoon with URBE dispatching of Millennia Atlantic 79-58 behind balanced scoring and swarming defense. In the second game, Southeast Christian survived a furious rally to hold off South Florida Tech 72-68 in a non-conference affair.
The real drama began with the nightcap as two teams undefeated in NSAC play battled. Host Atlantis used its size advantage to dominate the glass and shoot 53% in handing Lighthouse its first conference loss 89-81. The Makos, already shorthanded due to a hand injury a week earlier to Marcus White, lost standout guard Eddie Brown to an ankle sprain early in the second half. Brown still led all scorers with 24 points. Still, Lighthouse closed the gap in the second half after trailing by 10, 43-33, at the break. Atlantis outrebounded LCC 51-30, allowing multiple second-chance opportunities.
On a short turnaround, Atlantis opened day two by taking on URBE in another battle for the top of the standings. Joseph Behrend scored 18 points, Luis Carias added 16, and Hector Saavedra chipped in 15 to lead the Tigers to a 67-59 victory. Undersized URBE controlled the boards with a 35-23 rebounding advantage on hustle and grit and shot 48.9% from the field while holding AU to 31.1%. Atlantis senior forward Santiago Insaurralde led AU with 17 points.
Beacon College made its first appearance of the weekend on Saturday afternoon and rolled to a 77-60 non-conference win over United International. The Blazers held a comfortable 46-20 lead at halftime thanks to hot shooting while keeping the Eagle Rays off balance defensively, holding UIC to 9-of-32 (28.1 %) from the floor in the first half. The Blazers outrebounded UIC 59-33 for the game. Noah Wilhelm led Beacon with 18 points while Ernesto Hichez added 17 and 17 rebounds. UIC’s Isaiah Derkevics led all scorers with 20.
In the nightcap, Lighthouse shot 54 percent in holding off a determined Southeast Christian squad 86-77. Brent Royal led a quartet of Makos in double figures with 21 points while JB Wiltz had 15 and Tobias Daniels and Brandon Royal each added 13. Freshman guard Coy Sizemore scored 20 for the Eagles including tying a school-record five three-pointers.
In Sunday’s lone game, an inspired Beacon Blazer team jumped out to a 12-2 lead over Lighthouse, only to have the Makos go on a 13-2 run of their own to take the lead 15-14 with 14:06 left in the first half. From there, Beacon scored the next 18 points to take command of the game and hand LCC its second loss of the weekend, 84-71.
Tre’von Redd led the Blazers with 26 points with Hichez adding 18 and Wilhelm contributing 16 in support. Brandon Royal was the leading scorer for the Makos with 15.
The results of the weekend leave URBE in first place in the NSAC standings at 4-0, in a statistical tie with Mid-Atlantic Christian (1-0 in conference play). Atlantis is close behind at 4-1 followed by Beacon at 4-2 and Lighthouse at 2-2. You can find the complete standings here.
Image courtesy Jorge Morrero/Atlantis Sports Information
