By Dylan Branscome
November 23, 2024 – The Davidson-Davie STORM cruise to another conference victory, 112-71, over the Central Carolina Cougars on Saturday afternoon. Lamonte Cousar had a 21-point double-double, and Aden Taylor (13 points) and Will Gray (19 points) each got 5 steals, accounting for over half of Davidson’s 18 for the game.
All STORM players contributed to the 112 points scored and seven of those scored in the double-digits.
The first half started out fast-paced for both teams, with lots of pushing the ball up the court quickly and trying to get lots of fast break opportunities. The STORM tended to struggle from three during the entirety of the game, finishing at 25% behind the arch. But they had a stint of shooting efficiently when the Cougars switched to a zone, giving Davidson a comfortable lead. This was capped off when Gray got one of his five steals and got an easy layup, making Central Carolina call a timeout with Davidson up 30-15 with 10 to go.
While Cousar had 21 points on the night, he was rather quiet for the first 16 minutes of the game until he made a free throw. The Cougars were playing him very physically inside, sometimes taking a foul rather than letting him score, whether the foul was called or not. This obviously rattled Cousar, as his effort seemed to dip on defense because of it. “He’s got to be a little mentally tougher when he’s getting fouled and they’re not calling it,” head coach Matt Ridge said during halftime. “I think maybe the refs missed a few calls and he got frustrated, so he’s got to be a little more mentally tough now”.
Dane Stewart kept the STORM going throughout the first half, ending up with 13 of his 15 in that half alone, helping contribute to a comfortable, yet still underwhelming 56-41 lead over the Cougars.
The play didn’t start off great for Davidson-Davie after the break, with Central Carolina ripping out a 9-0 run to kick off the half. The early foul trouble wasn’t helping, as the Cougars were almost in the bonus with around 15 to go.
The STORM ended up calling a timeout, and after that, everything clicked. Davidson then went on one of the best runs you’ll see in basketball. A four-minute 24-3 run had amazing defensive stops and efficient shot-making. This run was capped off by a highlight-reel dunk from Stewart, and layups from Taylor and Gray off of turnovers, and Davidson-Davie is all of a sudden up 80-53 11 minutes to go. Cousar also had 15 points in the half, acting more composed and getting open inside.
“All of a sudden, the guys started playing with that sense of urgency,” said Ridge when asked about the impressive run. “It was a lot of fun to watch during that stretch. We were getting deflections and run-outs and dunks, and we were able to execute in the half-court at the same time. When we play hard and smart together, we tend to win games, and that’s what happened there. Really proud of our guys during that stretch”.
Ever since the initial 9-0 run from the Cougars, the STORM responded with an astounding 56-21 run of their own to end the game. Central Carolina ended up having 24 turnovers for the game, and most of them came during this half. While Davidson was not very efficient from three, they shot 68% from inside the arch, making for an extremely efficient inside game to improve to 7-0 on the season and 2-0 in conference play.
The Davidson-Davie STORM return to action against another conference opponent, the Fayetteville Tech Trojans, on Tuesday, Nov. 26 at 7:00 PM EST in Brinkley Gym.