Cardinals End Dry Spell With Big Win At Home Against Mercer County
By Isaac Donsky
Catonsville, MD. - CCBC Catonsville Cardinals men's basketball scored its third win of the season on Saturday afternoon, defeating Mercer County Community College 83-40 at the Jack Manley Wellness and Athletics Center.
In a game completely controlled by the Cardinals, Catonsville shot 54.7% from the floor and had four players score in double digits.
Defensively, the Cardinals had their best performance of the season, holding the Vikings to just 30% shooting overall, while recording 37 rebounds and 15 steals.
Catonsville led 24-6 midway through the first half. The Cardinals knocked down six straight three-pointers before scoring their first points in the paint.
Leading the way for the Cardinals in the first half was freshman guard Jalen Yates (Baltimore City College), who came off the bench to drop 11 points in the opening half.
Mercer County could do little to respond, as the Cardinals swarming defense recorded six first half steals. Four of those came from freshman guard Keith Bullock Jr. (Cardozo), who also had nine points.
Leading 43-20 at the half, the Cardinals continued to roll after the break, extending their lead to 44 points.
Much of the focus was on sophomore guard Joacquin Gonzalez (McKinley Tech) and freshman forward Treshawn Warren (Newtown).
Gonzalez shot 8-10 for 19 points, including three three-pointers, while Warren was perfect in the paint, shooting a perfect 5-5 in the second half for 11 points, while also grabbing five rebounds.
With the game out of reach for Mercer County, the Cardinals sent in their bench players to close out the contest.
Freshman guard Therman Gladden (Green Street Academy) punctuated the victory with a smooth layup in the final 30 seconds to close out the 83-40 victory.
Gonzalez finished the afternoon one rebound short of a double-double, ending the game with 24 points and nine rebounds.
Warren dropped a career-high 19 points and added seven rebounds and three blocks.
Bullock and Yates also finished with double-digits in the points column, as both put up 11 points.
Next up for the Cardinals is a road game against Howard Community College on Saturday, January 8 at 3:00 pm.
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