By Dylan Branscome
February 1, 2025 – The Davidson-Davie STORM improve to 11-1 in Region 10 play and 19-2 for the season after a home victory, 93-78, over the Pitt Bulldogs on Saturday afternoon.
Davidson was backed by a 30-point performance from Lamonte Cousar and a 20-point double-double (10 rebounds) from Jamaal Chrisp. Will Gray also grabbed nine assists and Aden Taylor had a double-double (13 points, 12 rebounds) to help the STORM secure the victory.
This was a bounce-back game for Davidson, as they lost on the road to Fayetteville Tech earlier this week. “It was hard to go on the road to Fayetteville Tech, hostile environment,” Cousar said post-game. “I’m glad we bounced back today because everybody was looking at us like, ‘Dang, what kind of STORM team is that?’ We just weren’t ourselves that night, but I’m glad we bounced back with the win.”
Davidson also forced 16 turnovers and scored 24 points off of those alone, while also shooting well from the free-throw line as a team (73.7%). The three-pointers still were not falling consistently (29.2%), but they were still able to shoot pretty well overall from the field (45.6%).
Defense was a strong component in the win, with 10 steals and seven blocked shots. Chrisp was able to get three steals on his own, while Ethan English managed to get five blocked shots.
The STORM also continued to prove that they have one of the deeper benches in the country, bolstering a staggering 42 points off the bench compared to 15 by Pitt. Granted, 30 of those came from Cousar, but Jaylen Wilkerson and Kobe Parker made sure to put in valuable minutes also.
Davidson did a tremendous job of offensive rebounding as well, out-rebounding the Bulldogs on the offensive glass 22-12. Off of these boards, the STORM was able to get 28-second chance points, compared to Pitt’s seven. Eight of Taylor’s 12 rebounds and five of Chrisp’s 10 were offensive.
The STORM will try and keep this momentum this week as they go on the road to Guilford Tech this week. “Every road game we go on, it’s been a close game,” Cousar said post-game. “We’re trying to change that. Trying to get a big lead and keep it, not let teams come back. Just keep scoring and keep hooping.”
Davidson will return to conference action this week against the Guilford Tech Titans on Monday, Feb. 3 on the road at 7:00 PM EST.