Season-high by Tarver helps Generals win 9th straight

(Herkimer's Jamell Johnson scores two for his team the hard way in the second half against Genesee Sunday).

HERKIMER, NY – Finishing the week off with a stiff test after a conference game on Saturday, the Herkimer Generals men's basketball team took it too Genesee Community College on Sunday, (2/1) defeating the DII Cougars 98-73 for their 12^th consecutive win at home this season.

Herkimer (20-2, 11-1) never trailed after Jallah Tarver (Schenectady, NY) sank his first three-point shot of the game and Jamell Johnson (Rochester, NY) collected an offensive rebound and field goal on back-to-back possessions in the first four minutes of the game to make it 9-7. Tarver finished with a game-high 23, and Johnson finished with 14.

The momentum gained helped the Generals push the lead to nine (27-18) after forward Ken Woodard (Bronx, NY) completed an 'and one' play with 9:33 left in the half. The sophomore finished the game with 11 points. It didn't reach double digits until the final couple minutes, on a mini 5-0 run, thanks to an offensive rebound by Dantre Langhorne (Greenport, NY) and three-pointer by Daniel Owens (Albany, NY) with 3.3 left on the clock. It gave Herkimer a 49-32 lead at intermission, and helped Langhorne contribute 12 and Owens add 14 in 40 minutes of play.

The 17-point lead ballooned to 30 (74-47) with multiple 'and one' and three point makes by Johnson, Woodard, Tarver, Langhorne and Murphy. It kept the Cougar's defense off balance for most of the half, seeing Herkimer control both ends of the court until starters were taken out with five minutes left in regulation.

Herkimer's bench was outscored 13-8, but fought back after letting Genesee score nine straight points quickly. Buckets by Eli Huggins (Bronx, NY), Felix Riascos (Poughkeepsie, NY) and Brandon Thomson (Long Island, NY) put the lead back to 25, giving the team their first win of the season to a Western New York Athletic Conference opponent.

The Generals will take their current win streak to Fulton-Montgomery on Wednesday (2/4), facing a Raider team which is 6-1 in their last seven. Game time for this Mountain Valley Conference matchup is 7 p.m.

Score:

Herkimer Generals 98, Genesee Cougars 73

HERK (20-2, 11-1) Jallah Tarver 23, Jamell Johnson 14, Daniel Owens 14, Dantre Langhorne 12, Carson Murphy 11, Ken Woodard 11, Felix Riascos 4, Eli Huggins 2, Brandon Thomson 2 Totals: 43-15-98

GCC (16-4) Naquil Jones 15, Ervin Mitchell 14, Rahsaan Williams 8, Joshua Doughty 7, Ryan Chung 7, Didier Antonie 6, Tre'Shaun Perry 5, Gabriel Burroughs 4, Tarik Allicock 4, Devante Carolina 2 Totals: 29-19-73

3-point goals: Generals 8 (Owens 3, Tarver 2, Johnson 2, Murphy 1) Cougars 5 (Jones 2, Mitchell 1, Perry 1, Burroughs 1)

Halftime:

Herkimer 49-32

Next Game: 2/4 @ Fulton-Montgomery 7 p.m.

-Giorgio Varlaro