Fourth-year forward Cam Smith etched his name into Stevenson basketball history, reaching a major milestone of 1,000 career points in the first half against Eastern, but despite the achievement, the Mustangs fell just short in a thrilling 89-84 loss.
Smith, only needing four points coming into the game to reach 1,000 career points, made a layup at the 12:39 mark of the first half that engraved his name into the Stevenson history books. In addition to reaching such a milestone, Smith added 20 points and eight rebounds.
Head coach Gary Stewart spoke about Smith reaching such a prestigious achievement.
“It’s an unbelievable milestone for a guy who has been an absolute warrior for us for four years. Obviously, we are going to miss a guy like that who has put his name in the scorebooks for four straight years,” Stewart said.
Fellow teammate third-year Ronald Ayers spoke on what it is like seeing his friend achieve such an accomplishment.
“I’m proud of him. I’ve seen the work he has put in. For us to come in at the same time and being able to see him reach that milestone is big,” Ayers said.
As soon as the game tipped off, the crowd could be seen waving 1,000-point posters in anticipation of Smith’s major milestone, but they would have to wait a bit as Eastern jumped out to a 15-12 lead. The Eagles would extend that lead by going on an 11-2 run early in the first half.
Eastern would go on another run late in the first, this time stretching the lead to a daunting 45-22 with five minutes remaining. Stevenson were able to hang with the red-hot shooting Eagles during the remaining five minutes, going into halftime trailing 54-36.
Eastern outrebounded the Mustangs in the first half, 26-18 and shot lights out from the field, eclipsing 58%, while holding Stevenson to 33% from the field.
As the second hallway went underway, it was similar to the first half. Stevenson couldn’t get stops defensively and the offense couldn’t find a rhythm. It wasn’t until the nine-minute mark that the Mustangs finally started to claw their way back in.
The run was sparked by the hot shooting of graduate student role player Cam Sapienza, who contributed 23 points, including 3-3 from the three-point line. Second-year guard Joey Lutz also added 14 points.
The Mustangs got as close as 88-84, but unfortunately, it was too little, too late.
Stewart spoke postgame about the Mustang’s performance and what to see ahead.
“We were discombobulated on both sides of the ball to start. Defensively we’re just not built to give up that many points night in and night out,” Stewart said. “We got to take care of ourselves. Get back to practice, dissect the film, and make corrections.”
Stevenson looks to get back on track as they host Hood College in the Owings Mills Gymnasium at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Streaming will be available on Gomustangsports.com.
