Bird, Tietgens help spark Drury over Greylock

WILLIAMSTOWN – When points are at a premium, certain baskets ring louder and loom larger than others. 

 

Just ask Drury boys’ basketball head coach Jack Racette, who has watched his team fail to break 50 points in three out of the four games it’s played this year. So when asked which players stood out in the Blue Devils’ 43-36 win over Mount Greylock on Tuesday night, Racette instantly popped out a few names. 

 

“I thought the difference in the game was Jake Tietgens,” Racette said. “He came in and made a three, he defended well and didn’t turn the ball over. He made some foul shots, he had a steal, which led to a basket, and he went 4 of 4 from the line. In a game like this, I think he was the difference honestly.”

 

“We’re just young and inexperienced. We have to get better every game. Every win we get is a good win for us. We’ve been in the 40s every game, so if anyone thinks we’re getting into the 60s they should have their head examined.” 

 

Tietgens, a junior guard for Drury (3-1), only had a total of seven points in the game, but he made timely baskets that helped the visitors put away the Mounties (1-2) at home. Shortly after entering the game in the third quarter, Tietgens drained a 3-pointer from the left wing that extended the Devils’ lead to five points. He then helped his team maintain its lead early in the fourth quarter, sinking four straight foul shots to keep Greylock at bay. With Drury nursing a slim 34-30 lead, Tietgens picked off a pass in the Mounties’ backcourt and found a streaking Cody Wemette for a fast break layup and a foul. 

 

Wemette sank the ensuing free throw, giving Racette’s club a seven-point lead with three and half minutes left to play. The hosts would never get any closer than five points the rest of the way, giving the Blue Devils a solid win on a night they were outclassed on the boards. Overall, Greylock held a 26-20 edge in rebounding, with a 9-5 advantage coming on the offensive glass. 

 

“We went into a zone, but we got out of it later,” Racette said of his team’s struggles on the boards. “They missed their initial shot but because of the zone they were killing us on the glass. When you play zone, that’s what happens. If you’re not a good rebounding team or if you don’t have a big man to rebound, it’s kind of just a free ball out there. They were way bigger than us, so they got a ton of offensive rebounds. We went back to man to man, however, and that helped us because when you play man at least you know who you have to box out.” 

 

The Drury offense struggled against the Mounties’ zone defense for most of the night, but at least one Blue Devil seemed to find his rhythm on offense. Sophomore Nolan Bird knocked down three triples on the night on his way to finishing with a team-high 13 points. He also helped out big down the stretch, saving all five of his rebounds for late in the game when Drury was trying to put the game away. 

 

It’s only his first year on varsity, but Racette feels like Bird needs to big part of the offense for the Blue Devils to succeed this year. The young wingman passed up on an open look late in the first half after already knocking down a couple of threes, and his coach didn’t seem to happy with the fact that Bird hesitated on pulling the trigger. 

 

“I absolutely want him to shoot it more,” Racette said. “Besides [Tyler] Benoit, he’s probably our next best basketball player. He can create shots on his own, and he can stroke it. We’re going to need Benoit to get his 12-15 points and hope someone like Bird can step up and help the offense as well.” 

 

After four games, it seems like Bird is up to his coach’s challenge. Tuesday’s night’s game marked the third straight contest in which the sophomore sharp shooter has posted double-digits in points. 

 

“It’s been fun [being on varsity],” Bird said. “It’s a good experience and I’m learning a lot more about basketball than I knew before. I think we just need to shoot more and we can’t just depend on Tyler. We all need to pitch in with points and start getting more confident when we shoot the ball. 

 

“I don’t have a problem [with taking more shots]. I’ll do whatever I can to help the team win. If that’s scoring, then I’ll try scoring more I guess.” 

 

While the offense is a work in the process, the Drury defense isn’t much of a concern for Racette. The Devils’ defense limited their opponent to 36 points for the second straight game and didn’t allow a single Greylock player to score in double figures. Both forwards Tyler Picard (nine points, six rebounds) and Brandon Decelles (nine points, seven rebounds) had solid games, but Mounties’ first-year head coach Eric Dean was hoping for a little more for the big men on Tuesday night. 

 

“[Drury] did what they wanted to do and they slowed us down,” Dean said. “They took us out of our rhythm, and we had too much foul trouble in the second half. They were in the double bonus toward the end of the third quarter, and that always makes it tough. 

 

“But we have to get the ball to the rim. We can’t throw it around the outside and expect to win. Especially in a tight game like game like this, we should have been pounding the ball inside to our big guys. We called a timeout, we told them to pound the ball inside and then we shot a three. But they’re young and it’s going to come over time.” 

 

Hank Barrett and Nathan Majumder also played well for the Mounties, finishing with seven points each playing out of the Greylock backcourt. Benoit, who had been Drury’s leading scorer the first three games, had a rough night going against the combination of Decelles and Picard. He still managed to chip in 11 points and a team-high seven rebound, however. 

 

The Blue Devils next play at Mount Anthony at 7:30 Monday night.