The Hagerstown Men's Basketball team had a productive end to their week this past Thursday and Friday (11/14-11/15) as they were able to participate in the Monroe Invitational in New Rochelle, NY. In that span, they took on 2 hungry teams, one of which was the host of the event in Monroe University. They started things off on Thursday matching up with the Mustangs in what was a highly anticipated duel of district rivals. The game imitated a seesaw on a playground as teams went back and forth trading blows. It was tight down to the wire, but in the end the Mustangs hung on to win a close one by a final score of 72-68. Standouts for the Hawks were freshman guard/sixth man Camerin Horton who paced the team with 26 points, and sophomore forward Mason Sword who added 16 points and 7 rebounds of his own. The Hawks got 34 points off the bench which is a sign of a deep and talented team. That will be paramount down the stretch, especially when March rolls around.
The Hawks then went head-to-head with the Spartans of Elgin CC who made the trek to NY from the state of Illinois. Elgin put up a fight against Hagerstown for the first 30 minutes of the game with their perimeter shooting, but in the end Hagerstown's physicality closed the door on the Spartans by a final score of 76-70. Horton once again took the lead in this bout as he added another 20 points and 12 rebounds to give him his first double-double of the year. Sword tacked on 17 points himself while sophomores Joede Mebane and Deondre Mitchell added 10 and 11 respectively.
The Hawks will continue their early season road travels as they open conference play against CCBC Dundalk Tuesday, November 19th at 6PM. They hope to avenge last season's buzzer beater win by the Lions in what hopes to be an exciting game.
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