Published: November 29, 2008 05:21 pm      

Rams rout Cobras in Alton finale

By JEREMY HALL

jeremy.hall@register-news.com

ALTON - This time, there was no letting off the pedal.

After losing a double-digit lead and eventually a game against Carbondale on Friday, Mt. Vernon raced ahead of Chicago Collins early and kept the Cobras well behind in a 63-39 win Saturday at the Alton Tip-Off Classic.

The win evened the Rams' record at 2-2 heading into the conference season, which begins Friday at Marion.

"It helps us get comfortable and it gets our confidence back up to know that we can come out and play like we know we can play," said Mt. Vernon senior Jacob Alvis, who led all scorers in the game with 17 points and nearly recorded a double-double with nine rebounds.

Collins had three stretches of four minutes or longer without a field goal and the Rams had four scoring runs of seven or more unanswered points as the Rams dominated from wire-to-wire. The game became a blowout for good at the onset of the third quarter, when Mt. Vernon strung together a 17-2 run. Six different players scored during the spurt, which expanded a 31-18 halftime lead to 48-20.

"It was very important [to finish strong]," said Rams coach Scott Gamber. "We talked about it. If they stayed in the game they would have gotten more and more confidence."

The Cobras went five minutes, 52 seconds between points during Mt. Vernon's decisive third-quarter run. For the game, Mt. Vernon outrebounded Collins 36-11 and limited the Cobras to 18 of 52 (34.6 percent) shooting from the field.

Ten Rams scored in the game, nine before Gamber emptied his bench with roughly three minutes left in the fourth quarter.

"It was a lot of fun," said Alvis, "running up and down the court and just playing."

Darrell Mitchell added 10 points for Mt. Vernon, while Logan Murphy and Kellin Edwards finished with nine points apiece. Murphy made three of six 3-pointer attempts against Collins, giving him a 10-for-21 total in the three games at Alton in which he attempted a shot from beyond the arc.

The Rams outrebounded Collins 18-6 in the first half and 18-5 in the final two periods. That set the tone for the win, according to Gamber.

"They had some athletes," he said. "They could attack the glass when they needed to. I thought we did a good job early of boxing them out. After you get boxed out a few times sometimes you quit going. I thought we did a good job keeping them off the glass."

Alvis reached double digits in scoring for the fourth time in as many games this season. The senior averaged 13 points a contest at Alton, scoring from both inside the paint and from the perimeter.

"Jacob has been great for us," said Gamber. "He can play from the inside and from the outside because he's quick enough to and athletic enough from the outside and he's got a good shot. But if they put a smaller guy on him, he's strong enough underneath to finish. He's a tough matchup for some teams."

Gamber was especially pleased to see his team rebound from a tough loss less than 24 hours earlier.

"Today could have been a day where they were sluggish," he said. "They may not have wanted to be here, but they played hard and left it all out there."

The Rams played without senior Bryce Kujawa for the third consecutive game. Kujawa injured his ankle while leading Mt. Vernon in scoring during its season opener against Alton. Gamber said he is hopeful Kujawa will return for Friday's game at Marion.



At Alton

Alton Tip-Off Classic

Mt. Vernon 63, Chicago Collins 39

Mt. Vernon 16 15 19 13

Collins 10 8 6 21

MT. VERNON: Alvis 8-10 0-1 17, Murphy 3-6 0-0 9, Quick 2-3 0-0 5, Mitchell 3-6 4-5 10, Rush 0-1 1-4 1, Fortney 1-6 2-2 4, Edwards 4-5 0-0 9, Martin 1-2 2-3 4, Deaton 1-1 0-0 2, Tucker 0-1 0-0 0, Stehley 0-2 0-0 0, Randolph 1-1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 24-44 9-15 63.

COLLINS: Troupe 5-10 0-0 10, Jerome 3-14 0-0 6, Person 1-4 0-0 2, Allen 2-4 0-0 4, Smith 0-2 0-0 0, Thomas 2-6 0-0 5, Williams 4-6 2-2 10, Walker 1-3 0-0 2, Knox 0-1 0-0 0, Thompson 0-2 0-0 0. TOTALS: 18-52 2-2 39.

THREE-POINT SHOOTING: Mt. Vernon 5-12 (Murphy 3-6, Quick 1-2, Fortney 0-2, Edwards 1-1, Stehley 0-1) Collins 1-10 (Troupe 0-3, Jerome 0-1, Person 0-1, Allen 0-1, Thomas 1-3, Walker 0-1). REBOUNDS: Mt. Vernon 36 (Alvis 9) Collins 11 (Jerome 5). TURNOVERS: Mt. Vernon 12, Collins 10. FOULS: Mt. Vernon 10, Collins 18. FOULED OUT: None. TECHNICAL

FOULS: None.