Gonzaga vs. DeMatha Basketball

Hard-Charging Hummer Gives Eagles a Boost
By B.J. Koubaroulis
Special to The Washington Post
Saturday, February 16, 2008; E09

Two plays in Gonzaga's 61-44 victory at DeMatha last night showed just how angry Eagles junior Ian Hummer is about missing out on a perfect regular season.

Both sequences ended with the 6-foot-6, 215-pound forward picking himself off DeMatha's court.

"He took tonight as a personal challenge," Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner said.

Hummer, who was in foul trouble and spent much of Eagles' 45-42 loss to DeMatha on Jan. 15 on the bench, played with a reckless abandon last night as he scored 23 points and hauled in 12 rebounds as the top-ranked Eagles avenged their only loss of the season in front of a capacity crowd.

Gonzaga (27-1, 17-1) has won 10 straight and enters next week's Washington Catholic Athletic Conference tournament as the top seed. DeMatha (18-9, 12-6) had its winning streak ended at six.

"I just remember going into the locker room after that loss and it was just so dismal," said Hummer, a left-handed junior who is drawing mid-major collegiate interest. "It was weird to win 17 in a row and then lose."

Hummer single-handedly outscored DeMatha, 7-6, in the second quarter on a series of physical moves, including a post-up, baseline drive and putback that rallied Gonzaga back from an early four-point deficit and gave the Eagles a 23-20 lead at halftime.

Trailing 16-13 with 6 minutes 36 seconds left in the second quarter, Hummer accepted a feed while in full stride and barreled down the middle of the lane with three defenders hanging from his limbs, but with his eyes locked on the hoop.

"I kind of knew I wasn't going to get [the dunk]," said Hummer, who crashed hard.

He was also fouled hard on a breakaway in the second half, which also bounced him hard off the hardwood.

Hummer added eight points in the third quarter as five Eagles scored, including two three-pointers by Cedrick Lindsay (six points) and five points from Harvard-bound slasher Max Kenyi. The Eagles went on a 23-10 run to take a 46-30 lead into the final quarter.

"[Hummer] takes up a few people in the post," said 6-4 senior forward Cam Johnson, who scored much of his 13 points on a variety of open looks underneath the basket while Hummer was being double-teamed. "It leaves so much open for me, so I'm just basically padding my stats."

No. 1 Gonzaga 61 No. 8 DeMatha 44

Achilles' Coach: On Monday, Gonzaga Coach Steve Turner had surgery to repair the Achilles' tendon he ruptured during a victory over Carroll on Feb. 5. Turner was on crutches and sitting during most of last night's victory.

Stag-nant: DeMatha committed five turnovers in both the second and third quarters and went scoreless for 4 minutes 6 seconds during the second quarter.