Boys' Basketball: Mt. Hebron Tops Howard in Back and Forth Affair

In a Monday evening game that saw numerous lead changes and featured strong play from both teams, the Howard Lions eventually fell at home to the Mt. Hebron Vikings, 57-48.

The Vikings are a team on a roll with a prolific scorer and passer in 6-foot-3 sophomore Malik Gilmore and the lightning fast 6-foot junior Deonte Moses. Coming into the game, first-year Howard coach Matthew Jens knew the Lions would have their hands full with Moses' speed and ability to score from all over the court.

"We tried to stop him," Jens said. "But he was fast and he went to the line a lot."

Moses would finish with 25 points. Malcom Tatum finished with 14 for Howard and Tadas Pakalniskis had 12.

The teams appeared closely matched as the game began, with sharp long-range shooting from Howard. Gilmore seemed off of his game in the opening minutes, eventually finding a rhythm and making plenty of free throws while getting to the foul line consistently.

Pakalniskis' strong presence in the paint on both offense and defense appeared to give Howard a slight edge in the first quarter, with the Lions shooting well and limiting Mt. Hebron's scoring chances close to the basket. Gilmore continued to get to the foul line, keeping Mt. Hebron in the contest despite the team's poor shooting early.

With six minutes left in the first half, Mt. Hebron appeared to hit its stride, playing smarter defense and making lots of high percentage shots. After narrowing their deficit to two at 17-15, Howard called a timeout to regroup with four minutes left in the half.

Continuing to play improved defense and picking up their shooting, the Vikings overtook the Lions just before the half by a score of 23-21.

In the second half, junior Jeff Mohilchock got involved early, showing off his impressive long-range shooting. The Lions continued to fight, staying in a close game.

Gilmore became more of a factor, continuing to make free throws and sinking shots he seemed to be missing early in the game. Eventually, Gilmore and Moses' speed gave the Vikings an edge, as they pushed the ball repeatedly and outran the Lions on their home court. In speeding the game up, the Vikings were able to take a six-point lead at 37-31.

With 2:10 left in the third quarter and after several turnovers, Howard took a timeout, presumably to slow down the game and get back to their game-plan. As the start of the fourth quarter approached, the Vikings looked to be on the verge of pulling away, and led 41-34 at the end of the third quarter.

They continued to score from the foul line early in the fourth, but Howard made a resurgence when Pakalniskis came off the bench and took over the game, scoring, blocking Gilmore, and scoring twice more in the paint, regaining the lead for Howard at 45-43. Mt. Hebron called a timeout and regrouped, coming out focused and regaining the lead with three pointers from Moses and Mohilchock.

The Vikings made free throws when the Lions were forced to foul to stop the clock. They would not be able to come back, though.

The Lions have played hard all season and are still looking for their first win, though Jens remains encouraged by his team's refusal to quit in close games.

"We played hard, went down and came back against a good team," he said. "We played hard man to man defense, but we need to work on our offensive production."