City of Basketball Love

By Owen McCue (@Owen_McCue)
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SPRING GARDEN — The 18th annual Danny Rumph Classic continued on Friday at the Community College of Philadelphia and those on the floor put on a show.

The event is held annually as part of the Daniel E. Rumph II Foundation's effort to bring awareness to sudden cardiac arrest (SCA) and to provide screening for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy, the leading cause for SCA. 

CoBL was there for all four games and will continue coverage throughout the weekend as the tournament continues with two games Saturday (1 p.m.), two games Sunday (2 p.m.) and Monday’s championship game (7 p.m.).

Here is a roundup of Friday’s contests:

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More coverage from the 2023 Danny Rumph Classic: Day 1 Roundup

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Rex 6 70, For the Culture Lids 67

Rex 6 built its lead as large as 15 or 16 in the first half, but as has been the case throughout the first two days of the tournament this one came down to the wire. The veteran former Rumph MVP Wali Hepburn ensured his Rex 6 squad held on for the win, sinking four clutch free throws in the final seconds and coming up with the game-clinching steal.

Hepburn, who played at Neumann-Goretti and Lock Haven, finished with a team-high 20 points to go along with five rebounds, two assists and two steals in the win. Archbishop Carroll alum Juan'ya Green, who played at Niagara and Hofstra, added another 15 points and  MCS and Rust College product Kwahmere Gredic added 13 in the win for Rex 6, which bounced back to 1-1 on the weekend and sent FTC to 0-2.

Marcus Thomas, a Del-Val Charter product who was the CSAC Player of the Year at Rosemont, poured in all 20 of his points (4-for-8 from 3-point range) in the second-half to spearhead the FTC comeback. A last-second three cut the deficit to one before Hepburn knocked down a pair of free throws and a steal. Temple product Nate Pierre-Louis chipped in another 12 points in the defeat.

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Basketball Finders 58, 8EYE 57

The Finders grew their lead to double digits in the second half before having to survive Vinny Simpon’s potential game-winner at the buzzer that didn’t go. It was a balanced effort for Basketball Finder, which is one two 2-0 squads remaining after the first two days of the tournament. Villanova alum Darrun Hilliard had 13 of his 15 in the first half to go along with seven rebounds. Perkiomen Valley and Lafayette product Justin Jaworski added another 15 and St. Joe’s and Utah State standout Taylor Funk finished with 13 points in the game.

8EYE suffered its first loss of the tournament despite Lincoln product Khalif Meares, who will play at Rowan College this upcoming season, spearheading a second-half comeback. Meares scored 16 of his 18 in the second half and added four rebounds, two assists and three steals. Simpson, a Cardinal Dougherty and Hampton product, is the head girls coach at Friends’ Central after a decade-long pro career. He finished with 17 points.

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CheckRock 95, Blue Magic 82

Los Angeles Clippers guard Nah'Shon ‘Bones’ Hyland put on a show Friday night, dropping in a 56-point effort to ignite a crowd that included Hall of Famer Allen Iverson. Hyland and Blue Magic’s Brandon Austin (17 points) went back and forth in the early going with Austin getting the better of Hyland a couple of times. Then Hyland went off, finishing with 31 points in the first half and dropping in another 25 points in the second, shooting 21-of-18 from the floor and 8-for-14 from three in the process.

Maryland product Eric Ayala was the hero for the Delaware-infused CheckRock on Thursday with a game-winning and-one in the final seconds. Though Hyland stole the show, Ayala followed up with 22 points and six rebounds on Friday, knocking down a few big shots when Blue Magic started to tighten things to improve his squad to 2-0. 

Blue Magic trailed by as many as 20 points in the second half, but trimmed that deficit to six before Hyland and Ayala tossed the putaway punches. Delaware native A.J. English (Iona) and former La Salle star Ramon Galloway both finished with 20 points for Blue Magic. St. Joe’s Prep product Ed Croswell, who just finished a college career that included stops at La Salle and Providence, added 14 points and seven boards, tossing down a number of two-handed slams during the second-half comeback. Former Neumann-Goretti and St. Joe’s star Jordan Hall impressed with 10 points and three assists as well.

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LOE 72, Rumph Center 61

Former Roman Catholic and Penn State teammates Lamar Stevens and Tony Carr took turns leading LOE on Friday night to pick up their first win of the Rumph and hand Rumph Center its second loss. Carr scored all 12 of his points in the second half to spark LOE at the start, and Stevens helped put away 13 of his team-high 18 after the break to finish off the win. 

Constitution and Rider product Ahmad Gilbert was another big contributor with 16 points and three steals. MCS and Phelps alum Mike Watkins, who was also at Penn State with Stevens and Carr, added 12 points and nine rebounds for LOE.

Alize Johnson, who recently signed a deal to play in Korea after seeing some action in the NBA over the last five years, had 19 points and 10 rebounds in a terrific outing for Rumph Center. ANC and Drexel product Samme Givens had another big night with 17 points and seven rebounds.