OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce never trailed Friday, June 28, and beat Linfield Christian 63-47 to improve to 10-5 in the 2024 summer season. The Jayhawks won the possession battle, turning 13 offensive rebounds and nine steals into an 11-2 edge in second-chance points and a 12-2 edge in points off turnovers.
Andre Iguodala II opened the scoring, and after Linfield Christian tied it at 2-2, Head-Royce answered with a 7-0 run. Iguodala scored off a turnover on a feed from Jack Peay, Bryce Clepper added a basket off another turnover, and Micah Nyamuzuwe hit a 3-pointer from Iguodala to make it 9-2. Linfield Christian came back with a 7-0 run of its own, going from 11-3 down to 11-10, and the game was tied at 12-12, 14-14 and 17-17.
The Jayhawks never let Linfield Christian go in front. Out of the 17-17 tie, Nyamuzuwe and Iguodala scored back-to-back second-chance baskets for a 21-17 lead. Clepper made two free throws, Peay scored off a turnover and then hit a 3-pointer, both on assists from Clepper, and Head-Royce led 28-22. The deciding stretch came next: a 7-0 run built on a second-chance 3-pointer and a second-chance basket from Nyamuzuwe, followed by an Iguodala basket, pushed the lead to 35-23. Linfield Christian scored six straight to cut a 39-26 deficit to 39-32, but Iguodala answered with a 3-pointer from Micah Riebel and Nyamuzuwe scored to make it 44-32. The margin stayed in double figures from there. Iguodala scored off a turnover and made a free throw for the biggest lead of the night at 61-45, and Peay closed the scoring with a second-chance basket.
Nyamuzuwe and Iguodala shared the team lead with 19 points each. Nyamuzuwe shot 8 of 18 from the field, including 2 of 8 from 3-point range, and added five rebounds and two steals. Iguodala went 8 of 15 from the field with four rebounds, two steals and two blocks. Peay, a sophomore, had 9 points on 4-of-8 shooting with a game-high 10 rebounds, five of them on the offensive glass, plus three steals and two assists. Clepper also scored 9 points and ran the offense with a team-high five assists and no turnovers. Riebel added 6 points, seven rebounds and three assists.
The team numbers backed up the result. Head-Royce shot 40 percent (26 of 65) and held Linfield Christian to 37 percent (17 of 46), including 3 of 20 from 3-point range. The Jayhawks won the rebounding battle 35-29 and had a 13-3 edge on the offensive glass. They committed five turnovers to Linfield Christian's nine and had 11 assists to the visitors' six. The starters scored 62 of the 63 points, with Jonah Greenberg adding a free throw and two blocks off the bench.
Linfield Christian stayed within range at the free throw line, where it went 10 of 13, while Head-Royce made 6 of 9.
Head-Royce is now 10-5.