Drury Comes up Short Against Crusaders
NORTH ADAMS — The Drury Blue Devils played a tough game versus a fast and athletic St. Joseph's team on Friday but came up just short, losing 57-54.
The game started out with Drury taking a 2-0 lead before the ball was even tipped off. Each team is required to submit an official roster to the scorer's table 10 minutes prior to the start of the game. St. Joe's failed to do so and was tagged with an inadvertent technical foul before the game even began. Tyler Benoit knocked both shots for the Blue Devils.
The first quarter was a tight battle, ending with a Crusaders 3-pointer to give St. Joe's the lead, 17-13. The second quarter was a tale of two runs. Drury started with a 16-2 run, fueled by 11 points from Benoit – including two 3-pointers – and four foul shots after two Crusaders were charged with technical fouls.
The Crusaders were down by 10 (29-19) with a little under five minutes to play in the quarter, but answered with a 14-3 run of their own. The Crusaders' full-court pressure and Mike McMahon sparked the run, with McMahon scoring 10 of his team-high 19 points in the quarter. St. Joe's ended the half up by one at 33-32.
In the second half, St. Joe's continued its full court pressure on the Blue Devils. Drury had trouble breaking the pressure and turnovers got the Crusaders' transition game going.
Drury fought throughout the fourth quarter to cut the lead to three (54-57), but Drury's Robert Jutras missed on a 3-point attempt with six seconds left to play and St. Joe's held on to get the victory.
Benoit led all scorers with 20 points, while teammate Alex Bush chipped in with 11. For the Crusaders, Taverick Roberson added nine points, while Brandon Casella netted seven.
The Blue Devils lost their sixth straight contest and now move to 5-8 on the season.
"We should have won this game," Drury head coach Jack Racette said. "We didn't execute, and the second quarter killed us. We were up ten and then had five turnovers."
The Blue Devils game at Taconic Tuesday night was cancelled because of a winter storm. The game will now be made up on Thursday, Feb. 10. Drury's next game will now be against Pittsfield on Friday night at 7:30 p.m.