Spartans Steal One From Devils in Overtime
NORTH ADAMS, Mass — The Drury boys' basketball team's road to the Western Mass. tournament hit a bit of a detour on Thursday night, as Monument Mountain snuck out of Bucky Bullett Gymnasium with a 53-51 win in overtime.The Spartans (6-9) won a neck-and-neck battle by outscoring the hosts 6-4 in overtime after the Blue Devils had a game-winning 3-pointer bounce off the rim at the end of regulation. Jack Racette's squad drops to 7-7 with the loss and now needs two wins in its last four games to qualify for postseason play.
The game was as even as it gets, with Monument holding a 9-7 lead after the first quarter of play. The visitors kept that lead heading into halftime, but Drury outscored the Spartans by one point each in both the third and fourth quarters to even the game back up at the end. Monument earned the win by making the most of its free-throw opportunities. The Spartans went 16 of 20 from the foul line, while the Blue Devils shot just 12 of 24 from the stripe.
John Kinne scored a game-high 13 points to lead Monument, scoring nine of his points from the foul line. Senior forward Slayter Aubin led Drury with 11 points, while classmates Joel Giorgi and Robert Jutras each chipped in with nine. Junior swingman Nolan Bird also added eight points and a team-high seven rebounds for the Devils, who next play at Taconic at 7:30 p.m. on Monday.