Recap for the game: Drury vs Monument Mountain on Dec 09
Bird's Big Night Leads Drury over Monument
Staff reports
12:16PM / Saturday, December 10, 2011
GREAT BARRINGTON, Mass — Nolan Bird announced he is a player to be reckoned with this season with his performance against Monument Mountain on Friday night.
The junior forward was a threat both inside and out against the Spartans, nailing a trio of 3-pointers on his way to a game-high 21 points. Bird also nabbed eight rebounds and added two assists to lead Drury to a 51-40 win in the season opener for both teams.
"Bird was the highlight of the game for us," Blue Devils head coach Jack Racette said. "He played well, and he's a real tough matchup at times. They put a forward on him, so we brought him outside in the first half. In the second half, they used a guard on him, so we tried to get him down low a little bit more."
The Drury defense came out strong, holding Monument to just seven points a quarter in the first half of play. Racette's team used a 17-point second quarter to go into halftime up 27-14. The Devils increaded their edge by two points heading into the fourth quarter, putting the Spartans in too big of a hole to climb out of.
"We played hard tonight," Racette said. "We had a real good second quarter, and we didn't give up many second-chance opportunities early on. They used a 1-3-1 zone trap to chip away at our lead in the second half, but we got our starters back in and were able to hold on."
Senior forward Slayter Aubin was a force on the boards for Drury, pulling down a team-high 12 rebounds to go with the six points he scored. Classmate Robert Jutras chipped with 11 points and six boards, while senior guard Joel Giorgi netted nine points to go along with three assists.
John Kinne led the way for the Spartans with 16 points. The Devils next host Mount Greylock at 7 p.m. on Monday night.
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