TOLONO -- Mark Twain said, "It's not the size of the dog in the fight it's the size of the fight in the dog." Unity showed visiting Champaign Central (1-4) that despite more than half their size in enrollment, they can run with big dogs after prevailing 65-56 in the non-conference meeting at the Rocket Center on Tuesday.
Henry Thomas led all scorers with a game-high 25 points, 11 of them, thanks to 13 trips to the free throw line for the Rockets. Also finishing with double-digit scoring for the home team were Dalton O'Neill with 16 points, and Austin Langendorf, who had 10.
Expecting an easy non-league match, the Maroons' comfortable first quarter 15-7 lead evaporated by the end of the second, with the Rockets trailing by one at the break, 30-29.
O'Neill, a junior, drained two of his three treys in the contest in the third quarter igniting the Unity offense.
Central, paced by Chris Bush's 20-points performance in the first three periods of play, couldn't buy a shot in the final quarter. When the sophomore's shooting prowess fizzled out, and the team's offense went colder than a Siberian winter day despite David Riley's attempt to heat things up, scoring all eight of his team's fourth-quarter points.
The Rockets doubled the Champaign school's output, thanks to another three from O'Neill and nine points from Henry Thomas in his best frame of the night.
Improving to 4-2 on the season, the Rockets hit the hardwood again on Friday at Clifton Central and host Pleasant Plains on Saturday at 4:30 pm.
Box Score
Unity 7 22 20 16 -- 65
Central 15 15 18 8 -- 56
Unity
Thomas 3(0)-0-0--6, Cowan 0(1)-0-0--3, Thomas 7(0)-13-11--25, Meibach 0(0)-0-0--0, Warfel 0(0)-0-0--0, Saunders 1(0)-2-1--3, Porter 0(0)-2-2--2, O'Neill 1(3)-7-5--16, Ruggeri 0(0)-0-0--0, Langendorf 3(0)-8-4--10, Maxwell 0(0)-0-0--0, Bleecher 0(0)-0-0--0. Central
Robinson 0(0)-2-1--1, Clifton 0(0)-0-0--0, Davis 0(0)-2-2--2, Rhone 1(0)-6-5--7, Swanson 0(0)-0-0--0, Bush 1(4)-7-6--20, Chen 2(1)-4-1--8, Hastentab 0(0)-0-0--0, Baldwin 1(1)-0-0--5, Riley 2(3)-0-0--13, Harmon 0(0)-0-0--0, Christmon 0(0)-0-0--0, Sutton 0(0)-0-0--0, Brandy 0(0)-0-0--0.
