Mar. 16—CUMBERLAND — It was a historic night at Bob Kirk Arena on Friday.
Tyson Oghene broke Allegany College’s single season and career 3-point records, hitting seven triples and leading the third-seeded Trojans to a 96-77 upset win over No. 2 seed Monroe in the East District semifinals.
“Heart, lots and lots of heart,” ACM head coach Tommie Reams said. “I thought our kids played unbelievably hard for 40 minutes. Whether we were up, whether we were down, whatever the situation was, I thought the sheer will to compete at the highest level shone brightest tonight.”
Oghene surpassed Mike Renfro who previously held both records.
Oghene needed seven 3-pointers to break Renfro’s single-season mark of 103 set in the 1995-96 season and he needed six triples to break Renfro’s career record of 199.
“It means a lot, I wanna thank my teammates for it,” Oghene said. “Having the trust in me, getting me the ball for me to shoot it. I’m really just thankful for my teammates.”
Oghene hit four 3-balls in the first half, and Jeremiah Mobley added 15 points with three triples.
Last year, the Mustangs (23-8) beat the Trojans (25-7) in the East District Final, earning them a spot in the national tournament.
On Friday, Allegany opened the game with as good of a opening 10 to 12 minutes as it could’ve asked for against a team like Monroe.
After four lead changes in the first eight minutes, the Trojans either led or kept it a one possession game.
“Big energy, guys completely bought in, playing as hard as they could,” Reams said. “But not just playing hard, trying to play smart. I thought defensively, our rotations and communications were as good as they’ve been all season.”
Allegany held the lead for the final 12 minutes, pushing it up to 35-26 when Cam Brown found Oghene on the left wing for a 3-pointer with 1:49 left.
Monroe cut the deficit to six on a fadeaway by Jawarie Hamelin, but Allegany pushed the lead back up to nine on a Jeremiah Mobley corner triple.
After scoring two points in the first half of the quarterfinal game against Baltimore City, Mobley had 15 in the 20 minutes against Monroe.
He finished with 21 points, four rebounds and a steal.
After a turnover by the Mustangs with 2.8 seconds remaining, Brown inbounded to Oghene.
He buried a deep 3 from at least 30 feet out on the right wing at the buzzer to give the Trojans a 43-31 halftime lead.
“That’s one of the first times we had a look like that all year,” Reams said. “We did some stuff on the fly. I’m barking at Jeremiah to come get that look. Shane Scott (assistant coach) is talking to Tyson, getting him in the proper posiion. Both guys are open and Cam makes the right read.”
Midway through the second half, Oghene would begin to rewrite history.
Leading 57-45 with 13:40 remaining, Lamont Jones found Oghene in the left corner.
He swished the triple, breaking ACM’s career record.
Leading 63-53 with 10:05 to go, Christian Champagne found Oghene on the left wing to break the single season record.
Oghene finished with a game-high 23 points, adding four rebounds, two assists and a steal.
“It’s great to see, it’s a wonderful achievement for him,” Reams said of Oghene’s new records. “He hit the half-courter, but if you think of all the other shots, every single one was a good shot.”
As Oghene rewrote the history books, Monroe was mounting a comeback.
The Mustangs went on a 14-7 run, cutting the deficit to 73-67 as Hamelin, who scored 14 of his team-high 20 points after halftime, recorded a steal and an and-one layup.
Hamelin also recorded three rebounds, three assists and three steals.
Unlike the quarterfinals against Baltimore City, the Trojans comfortably maintained a single-digit lead and quickly turned it back into double digits.
“This group is as prepared for this moment as any group that I’ve ever coached,” Reams said. “The mentality, the toughness, the brotherhood, the love they have for each other. And it showed, we went a little short bench tonight. Instead of worrying about playing time, guys are leading from the sidelines.”
A pair of free throws by Cam Brown put ACM up 75-68 with 5:29 left.
Brown recorded his ninth double-double of the season with 14 points, 10 assists and a steal.
The Trojans went on a 14-6 run to push the lead up to 89-74 with less than 40 seconds remaining.
After not scoring in the first half, Jones was key for Allegany in the second, scoring 17 points and hitting eight free throws in the final 90 seconds to seal the win.
“We talked about it halftime, I was like Lamont, think about this,” Reams said. “We’re up 12 right now and you haven’t even taken a shot yet. You’ve just been playing the game and letting it come to you. They gotta adjust to Tyson, Jeremiah and Cam. Your moments are coming and he said, ‘I got you coach, I’m locked in’.”
Four other Mustangs scored in double figures.
Hassan Washington had 14 with a block, Albert Vargas had 12 points, five assists and two steals while Ziare Wells hit for 11 with eight rebounds and Stefano Faloppa finished with 10 points, four rebounds and a steal.
Allegany tied a season high with 17 3-pointers from the Dec. 11 game against Penn Highlands. Oghene also hit seven triples in that game.
Allegany was 23 of 26 at the free-throw line compared to Monroe’s 6 of 22.
The Trojans advance to the East District Final against No. 5 seed Harford on Saturday at 3 p.m.
The Fighting Owls (19-13) upset top seed Harcum (25-5) in the other semifinal 75-67.
The matchup guarantees a Maryland school will represent the East District in the national tournament.
“It’s fantastic for the Region 20,” Reams said. “Every year, the Region 20 conference as a whole has really good basketball. For us to know a Maryland school is going get that national tournament berth is great for the East Coast and our brand of basketball.”
Jordan Kendall is a Sports Writer for the Cumberland Times-News. Email him with scores and story suggestions at jkendall@times-news.com.
