MADISONVILLE, TN – In their first game of the road trip, the University of Valley Forge Men's Basketball Team played against the Hiwassee College Tigers on Thursday, February 12^th.  After a lot of exciting back and forth action during the first 30 minutes, the Patriots pulled away in the final minutes and won by a final score of 81-65.

The Patriots, young, small, quick, and in your face defensively, came out of the gates strong, opening up an 11-2 lead.  The Tigers, experienced, big, physical, and strong inside, withstood the early onslaught and rallied to tie it up at 13.  A few minutes later, the Tigers grabbed their first lead after back-to-back buckets from Kaseem Davidson.  They led the remainder of the half, but the Patriots stayed right on their heels.  The score was 33-29 at halftime.

Again, the Patriots came out of the locker room with a lot of energy and took the lead after back-to-back 3-pointers from Joseph Taylor and Jean LeBlanc.  The Patriots tried to pressure the Tigers in the first half, but Hiwassee did a good job of managing it.  This didn't stop Valley Forge from continuing to come after the Tigers on the defensive end in the second half.  If they didn't, the Tigers would have continued to take advantage of their size as they did in the first half.  Their efforts paid off as the Tigers began to wear down.  Also, the Patriots were converting turnovers into points!  They scored 22 points off the Tigers' 12 second-half turnovers.

With the Patriots trailing 49-45 at the 13:14 mark, Jalen Archer stole the ball from Davidson and raced down the court for an easy lay-up.  It sparked an 8-0 run and the Patriots led 53-49.  With 8:05 remaining, Brandon Rembert, left unguarded, hit a wide-open 3-pointer to spark another run.  LeBlanc scored seven straight points, followed by a Rembert lay-up.  The 15-0 scoring run, totaling only 2 minutes 17 seconds, was capped off by another Taylor 3-pointer.  The Patriots had a commanding 74-57 lead. 

Patriots' Assistant Coach Ronshea Vargas talked about the game afterwards, "The turning point in this game was our ball pressure.  We stayed on them and didn't let up.  When we took their best options away, it seemed like they didn't know how to respond."  Not only that, but the Patriots were playing unselfish basketball on the offensive end as well, tallying up 19 assists.

The Tigers were not able to rally and the Patriots went on to win, 81-65.

Senior Jean LeBlanc led all scorers with 19 points, including 3-5 from 3-point range.  Brandon Rembert had 18 points, 4 assists, and a game-high 5 steals.  Kevin Mack, plagued by foul trouble in the first half, scored 13 points and also dished out 4 assists.  Joseph Taylor, 3-3 from 3-point range, finished with 11 points and a team-high 7 rebounds.

This was the Patriots second game this week, winning both so far.  They have two more remaining on this road trip.  They will travel to Knoxville, TN tomorrow to take on Johnson University at 8PM.  It will be a rematch of a game they played in November at Valley Forge.  The Patriots won that contest, 82-71. 

Go Patriots!