By Amy Brown/Sinclair Sports Information
Dayton, Ohio---The No. 15 Sinclair Men's Basketball team (9-1) hosted Ivy Tech (3-5) on Wednesday in their first game since being ranked No. 15 in the new NJCAA Division II Basketball Poll. Sinclair played a well-rounded aggressive game and had five players score in the double digits.
Sinclair took the initial lead as Trace Cureton came out on fire tallying the first six Sinclair points to set the tone for the night. Ivy Tech went on a mini 9-4 run of their own, but Sinclair soon regained momentum and took a 27-18 lead with under 7:00 to play. Sinclair displayed great ball movement when Trace Cureton got a block and threw it down court to Deiontay Walters who dished it off to Westley Parr for the a two handed dunk to put Sinclair up 37-25. Sinclair went into the locker room with a 47-39 lead over Ivy Tech.
The second half started out just as aggressive as the first half. After an offensive surge that pushed the lead out to 20 points (64-44), the visitors mounted 14-4 run of their own to get the lead back to 10 with 10 minutes to play. Quenching Sinclair's offensive drought was Westley Parr with another slam and Sinclair pushed the lead back up to 70-58. Sinclair's aggressive play was enough in the end and they prevailed beating Ivy Tech 91-74 as Sinclair shot 53.8% from the field on the night.
Scoring leaders for Sinclair included Westley Parr (6-7/FR – Benedictine H.S., Cleveland, OH) who tallied a game high 20 points. Trace Cureton (6-4/SO – Cathedral H.S., Indianapolis, IN) scored 18 points and added 8 rebounds and three assists. Marquez Carpenter-Mathis (6-6/FR – Western Hills H.S., Cincinnati, OH) had 17 points and 7 rebounds on the night. Deiontay Walters (5-10/FR – Princeton H.S., Cincinnati, OH) had 14 points and led the team with 8 assists. Charles Sweatt-Washington (6-7/FR – Lafayette H.S., Lexington, KY) recorded a double-double scoring 12 points and adding 10 rebounds.
Sinclair will hit the road Friday and travel to Philadelphia where they will take on University of Pennsylvania (JV) on Saturday. The trip to Philadelphia is part of the Men's Basketball Player Enhancement Program (PEP). The program was developed as part of a long range goal to assist these young men and help them grow both on and off the court through guest lectures and off site visits. Some of the sites slated on the itinerary for their visit include the Liberty Bell, Independence Hall, Congress Hall, and the National Constitution Center, along with of course grabbing a Philly cheesesteak! Sinclair will also get an Ivy League tour of the University of Pennsylvania. Some of the program highlights in other years have also included: tours of the White House, Arlington Cemetery, Supreme Court, US Capitol, as well as speakers from the Secret Service, Sinclair Professors, local business professionals and former & current NBA & NFL players. Sinclair will return home on December 18 when they will host Miami University - Middletown. Game time will be at 7:30 and will be at the gymnasium at Sinclair Community College in building 8.