BUFFALO, New York- The Miami Hamilton Harriers beat the UC Clermont Cougars by a score of 76-66 on Friday. The Cougars got out to a fast start and went into halftime with a 43-32 lead. The Harriers would then out score UC Clermont 42-23 in the second half.
Kenyon Gardner made a lay-up to give the Cougars a 34-19 lead with 5:49 left in the first half. The Harriers cut into the lead a little bit, but still went into halftime down by double-digits.
It was a tale of two halves. The Harriers played stellar offense and defense to start the second half. They built themselves a double-digit lead at 62-52 with 9:01 left in the game. It was a shocking 30-9 run over the course of 11 minutes of game time. Completely unexpected given how well everything was clicking in the first half for the Cougars.
UC Clermont got the lead back down to 4 on multiple occasions, but Miami Hamilton always had a response. They trailed 70-66 with just over a minute left in the game. The Harriers made clutch free-throws down the stretch and the Cougars were unable to connect on a shot to draw closer.
Kaleb Wanamaker shot 9-for-15 from the field, 6-for-7 from three, and 6-for-7 from the free-throw line while recording a double-double with 30 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 steals. Shaeden Olden shot 6-for-11 from the field and 4-for-6 from three-point range while finishing with 18 points and 2 steals. Terrell Pollard had 14 points and 8 rebounds.
Kenyon Gardner recorded a double-double with 22 points, 12 rebounds, and 2 steals. Caden Zeinner had 11 points and 7 rebounds. AJ Robinson had a double-double with 10 points, 11 rebounds, and 3 blocks off of the bench. Landon Naylor led the team with 4 assists.
The Harriers shot 45.8% from three-point range. The Cougars had 32 second chance points, 30 points in the paint, and won the rebound battle 48-36.
UC Clermont ends the season at 20-6. It was a great season with a lot of great moments for the Cougars. Miami Hamilon improves to 15-10 and will play in the Championship against Penn State York.
Written by Eli Altherr