HINSDALE CENTRAL HOLIDAY CLASSIC

HC SQUARED:  Building a New Tradition of Basketball at Its Best
 

2016 GAME EIGHT RECAP: DEPAUL 74, CRETE-MONEE 69

Box Score

HINSDALE, Ill. - Perry Cowan scored a team-leading 23 points to help lead DePaul Prep past Crete-Monee 74-69 in the opening round of the 2016 Hinsdale Central Holiday Classic.

DePaul (8-3) raced out to an early lead, building a 10-point (17-7) cushion in the opening quarter and led 33-28 at the break, but Crete-Monee (6-4) surged back in the second half to take the lead. Crete outscored DePaul 24-12 in the third to carry a 52-45 lead into the fourth quarter.

DePaul and Crete-Monee traded buckets early in the fourth before DePaul took the lead on a jumper by Cowan with six minutes remaining. Crete-Monee went back in front on a pair of Malik Hardmon free throws, but a three-pointer from Elliott Sieger put DePaul in front for good with 4:44 remaining. The Rams scored the next eight points to cap an 11-0 run to put DePaul up by 10 with 2:30 remaining.

Crete-Monee wasn't done yet, as the Warriors responded with eight straight points to close to within two points with 1:19 left but DePaul hit six free throws down the stretch to preserve the five-point victory.

DePaul shot 55.3 percent (26-of-47) from the field, including 30.8 percent (4-of-13) from downtown. Cowan led the squad in the win with 23 points while shooting 10-of-12 from the field. Sieger added 22 points while hitting four three-pointers and Fred Nunez totaled 19 points, seven rebounds and six assists.

Crete-Monee shot 44.8 percent (26-of-58) from the floor, including 44.4 percent (4-of-9) from beyond the arc. Dwayne Rose led all scorers with 31 points while Marquis Kennedy totaled 26 points and eight rebounds.

DePaul will face Hinsdale Central in Wednesday’s quarterfinal at 8:30 p.m. Crete-Monee wil take on Stevenson in a consolation game on Wednesday (December 28) at 2:00 p.m.