NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- On Jan. 2 the Drury boys basketball team held a seven-point lead on Mount Greylock going into
half-time, and the Mounties came back and beat the Blue Devils by nine for Drury's only loss this winter.
On Monday night, Drury led by six at the half but walked away with a 60-40 win at Bucky Bullett Gymnasium.
A big contributor to the Devils' win was junior Ryan Harrington, who came off the bench and put up a game high of 16 points.
“Coming off the bench, it’s a big role,” Harrington said. “My teammates were passing me the ball and my shots were just falling tonight.”
“He’s been practicing well. He’s a junior, he’s getting a little taste, and we’ve been giving him a little at a time,” Drury coach Jack Racette said. “Tonight he responded huge. He’s a scorer for sure.”
In the first half, the lead changed back and forth between the two teams; in the first quarter the Devils scored on three straight posessions to take a 12-10 lead going into the second. Senior Nick Trombley hit two back to back 3-pointers and senior Justin Girard put one in down low.
Greylock came out in the second quarter and put up a few quick baskets, taking over the lead, but Girard tied it at 17 with two shots from the line, and within the next few plays the Mounties found themselves in foul trouble, sending Drury to the line, where the followed through and held a 30-24 lead going into halftime.
Senior Kirby Bryce set the tone in the fourth quarter with 4:24 remaining. He took an offensive charge putting Greylock at a total of seven team fouls; and also putting the Drury fans on their feet. From there, the Devils took it away.
“Defensively we really talked about just staying together, we made some adjustments, but didn’t really change defenses,” Racette said. “We just went straight man to man, and I thought it was the difference, we played all 32 minutes tonight.”
Aside from Harrington with the 16 points, Girard and Kareen Beckett each put up 11, and Trombley had 10 for the Devils.
Mount Greylock senior Eric Hirsch finished with a team high of 11 points, Ian Brink had 8, and Jake Benzinger had 7.
Drury (7-1) hosts Taconic Thursday evening and Mount Greylock (6-3) travels to Lee.
