NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — The Drury boys basketball Wednesday escaped a close one in overtime against Mount Greylock, 62-56, in the home opener.
This was an electric game from start to finish with both teams throwing it all out there. It was a little sloppy on both sides of the court, but the energy was certainly there this early in the season.
Drury (2-0) was led by Dante Dillard, who scored a team-high 20 points, including five 3-pointers. Louis Guilotte chipped in with 17 of his own and Sam Moorman added 11.
Mount Greylock (1-1) started off the game well, speeding Drury up with a little full court pressure. The Mounties really found their groove on the offensive board getting plenty of second chance opportunities to give them an early first quarter lead. Greylock’s Seamus Barnes led the way with 20 points, but no other Mountie was able to hit double figures.
The game was a back and forth battle with both teams going on runs of their own only to be countered by a run on the other side. Dillard sparked the first run for Drury with two 3s in the first quarter and then a nice and-one finish to end the quarter with a one point lead. Drury continued this momentum in the second with a 6-0 on the back of a Louis Guilotte and-one.
Sam Moorman, who got things done on the offensive end, took two charges in the first half that really gave
the Blue Devils a nice spark to finish the half. Drury went to the locker room up 27-26.
The second half started off with Mount Greylock really trying to assert themselves inside, working the ball to the high post and getting easy looks at the rim. Greylock went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead, but a big 3-pointer from Louis Guilotte kept things within range. The turnovers were a problem for the Blue Devils all night long, both with pressure from Greylock and self inflicted bad passes.
“We’ve got a lot of growing pains, we have guys that are seniors but with not a lot of experience,” Drury coach Jack Racette said. “We’ll get better, but our experience lies with Louis. We have a lot to learn, but we stayed together.”
Greylock dominated the third quarter and took a 36-30 lead going into the fourth. Just when it looked like that inexperience from Drury was going to kick in, it found another gear and opened the quarter on a 7-0 run similar to how Greylcok clawed back in the game in the third.
It was one of Dillard’s five 3s on the night that gave Drury the lead again at 37-36. From this point on it was a battle of back and forth buckets from both teams. Moorman got a huge rebound and put back followed by another nice jumper in the lane gave them a four-point lead.
Seamus Barnes answered back with a basket of his own and then it turned into a free throw contest with both teams going to line. Drury was able to erase a 50-45 deficit to force Overtime after Louis Guilotte was only able to make one of two free throws.
In overtime, baskets were tough to come by but Drury was able to grind it out and came away with the win. The Blue Devils held Mount Greylock to just three points in the overtime period.
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Drury will take on Lenox on the road Friday night, while Mount Greylock will hope to bounce back on the road against Franklin Tech, Saturday.
