Drury Defense Too Tough for Mohawk
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. -- Facing a critical game before a long two-week layoff, the Drury boys' basketball team responded with a dominating defensive effort to defeat Mohawk 53-27 at home on Wednesday night.The Blue Devils (3-2) didn't allow the Warriors to score double digits in any quarter and took firm control of the game with a 13-4 run in the second quarter that gave the hosts a 26-13 lead at the half. Mohawk only managed six points in the third quarter, which put them behind 38-19 heading into the fourth.
"Mohawk is very young," Drury head coach Jack Racette said. "We played OK defensively, but I think we can get better. We have 10 days off now, so we'll have time to work on it and get all our defenses in now."
Junior Nolan Bird led the way on offense for Devils, scoring a career-high 22 points to go along with eight rebounds, three assists and two blocked shots. After playing tentative in the first half, the Drury forward came alive by scoring 14 points after the break.
"Bird started off shaky, so I sat him a little while in the first half and told him he has to attack the rim," Racette said. "He and [Joel] Girogi are really are two main scorers. He really started getting to the basket in the second half. He had one more on the baseline, and he was right at the rim. We really need him to play like that all of the time."
Giorgi added 11 points for the Blue Devils, who also received 10 points and five boards from senior center Brett Denning. Junior Byron Adams had a nice game off the bench for the hosts, scoring five points and collecting eight rebounds, five of which were on the offensive end.
Drury next hosts Lenox on January 4 at 7:30 p.m.