Drury Downs Mahar
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. – The Drury boys basketball team defeated Mahar, 67-59, at home, Monday night.
Jorge Bond led the way for Drury (4-2) with 26 points, including two and-one triples. Sam Moorman added 16 and Sam Bullett had seven.
It was a high scoring first quarter for both teams scoring in the 20s. A lot of that came from turnovers and fast break points.
Drury got off to a good start with Jorge Bond completing a four-point play to get them going. Bond finished the quarter with nine points continuing his hot streak in the first quarter after scoring 22 in the first eight minutes of a 44-point night at Lee.
The only real issue Drury faced was unforced turnovers, which helped Mahar crawl back into the game multiple times throughout the contest. Drury took the five-point lead at the end of the first after exploiting Mahar at the rim with easy drives to the hoop.
In the second quarter, Moorman got going with some nice ball movement from the Blue Devils, who were able to find the center of the zone and play the high low game, giving Moorman and teammates plenty of chances at the rim. He finished the quarter with six points.
The good run from Drury to start the quarter ended when the turnovers started to pile up once again. Drury was turned over four consecutive plays allowing Mahar to get back into the game ending the half only down seven points.
“The inside was wide open, but our interior passing wasn’t great,” Drury coach Jack Racette said. “We just need to cut back on the turnovers. It’s way too many. We’re not going to win big games if we turn it over like that, but definitely a good win against a good team.”
The second half saw more of the same gameplay for Drury as it tried to feed the ball inside on the zone but once again the turnovers started to add up. Mahar was able to bring the game within one possession, but it was Jorge Bond once again to get things under control, knocking down his second and-one three of the game, swinging the moment right back in the hosts’ favor. Drury started to take care of the ball a little bit better and were able to push the lead to six before the start of the fourth quarter.
Drury saved their best defensive quarter for the fourth, holding Mahar to only 11 points total. Freshman Bullett had a couple timely baskets, including a 3-pointer from the corner to help keep their lead. Jorge Bond knocked down another triple late in the game with just three minutes left to give Drury a much needed basket as their five-point lead was stretched to eight.
Drury was able to slow things down and take the air out the game as they played keep away for the remaining minute and a half. Drury finished the game 11-for-14 from the line, which helped them secure the win in the second half.
“In the Greenfield game, we shot 3-for-9 in the fourth quarter from the line,” Racette said. “We should have won that game, but, again, we work on it and know how important they are and we can’t miss them down the stretch.”
Drury will host Hopkins on Friday in hopes to stretch their win streak to four games in the early stages of the season.