Hoover Drops 33 to Lead Louisville Past Minerva
Video Highlights
Louisville 58, Minerva 49
Blake Hoover poured in 33 points and grabbed 15 rebounds to lead the Louisville Leopards past the visiting Minerva Lions 58-49 Friday Night. With the victory, Louisville is now 5-2 overall and a perfect 3-0 in NBC play.
The Leopards managed to erase a 36-27 third quarter deficit en route to victory. The turning point in the 
contest came when Jake Pukys hit 3 consecutive three-pointers in a span of 80 seconds giving Louisville a 45-43 advantage with 5:10 left to play. Pukys would score all 12 of his points in the final quarter.
Hoover scored 15 points in the first half and 18 points in the second half. His 33-point performance tied Mike Brown for the most points scored by an individual in a single contest during the Tom Siegfried era. Brown matched the total at Minerva in 2010.
The Lions were led by Jansten Locke who scored a team-high 15. Nick Clapper and Kristian Knight also added 11 each. Minerva led after each of the first three quarters, but were outscored by Louisville 24-9 in the final period.
Tonight’s contest was actually the 150th meeting between Louisville and Minerva since 1926. The Leopards leads the all-time series 82-68 and have now taken 8 out of the last 9 meetings from the Lions.
UP NEXT: The Leopards will next travel to Ravenna to take on the Ravens on Saturday, December 28.
VARSITY STATISTICS
LEOPARDS 58, LIONS 49
LIONS: Locke 4 6-8 15, Clapper 2 6-6 11, Knight 4 2-3 11, Capelli 3 2-2 8, Angione 1 0-0 2, Gill 1 0-1 2. TOTAL 15 16-20 49.
3-Pointers (3): Clapper, Knight, Locke
Team FT: 16-20 80%
LEOPARDS: Hoover 12 9-11 33, Pukys 3 3-4 12, B. Mathie 2 4-6 8, Crank 1 0-2 3, Noble 0 2-2 2. TOTAL 18 18-25 58.
3-Pointers (4): Pukys (3), Crank
Team FT: 18-25 72%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Minerva 13-9-18-9–49
Louisville 10-11-13-24–58
Fouls: 19-18 Minerva
Records: Louisville 5-2, 3-0; Minerva 1-5, 0-3
JV: Louisville 41, Minerva 28
The Leopards outscored the Lions 29-14 to turn a close game into a convincing 41-28 victory. With the win, the Louisville JV Squad is now 4-3 overall and 3-0 against NBC foes.
Jake Mathie led the way by scoring 12 points and hitting 2 three-pointers. Brock Haren also tallied 9 and Matt Eddins also added 2 triples.
JV STATISTICS
LEOPARDS 41, LIONS 28
LIONS: Coe 4 1-2 11, Catlett 2 2-3 6, Ossler 1 0-0 3, Romand 1 1-1 3, Gross 1 0-0 2, Hudy 1 0-2 2, Preston 0 1-3 1. TOTAL 10 5-11 28.
3-Pointers (3): Coe (2), Ossler
Team FT: 5-11 45%
LEOPARDS: J. Mathie 5 0-1 12, Haren 4 1-2 9, Eddins 2 0-0 6, Hall 2 0-0 4, Lairson 2 0-0 4, Hahn 1 0-0 3, Adams 0 2-2 2, Bast 0 1-2 1, Shaheen 0 0-2 0. TOTAL 16 4-9 41.
3-Pointers (5): Eddins (2), J. Mathie (2), Hahn
Team FT: 4-9 44%
Team 1-2-3-4–TOTAL
Minerva 8-6-6-8–28
Louisville 7-5-16-13–41
Fouls: 17-16 Minerva
Records: Louisville 4-3, 3-0
