March 7, 2025 – The Davidson-Davie STORM are the 2025 Region 10/South Atlantic District Tournament champions after defeating the Pitt Bulldogs, 91-87, in an exciting game that came down to the very end. They are now 29-3, and finished Region 10 play with a 16-2 record.
Davidson had five players score in double digits. Lamonte Cousar (19 points, 8 rebounds), Aden Taylor (17 points, 9 rebounds), Jamaal Chrisp (17 points), Kobe Parker (16 points, 3 steals), and Ethan English (11 points, 13 assists) all combined to help punch their ticket to Danville, Illinois.
While the game ended up being a close one, the STORM dominated the first half. The strategy was clear: keep attacking in the paint and get the Bulldogs’ bigs into foul trouble. And that’s exactly what Davidson did. Both centers from Pitt had three fouls within the first 10 minutes of the game. This, combined with Davidson constantly causing turnovers in the backcourt, helped them be up 40-12 with 5:45 to go.
Davidson held the Bulldogs to only nine field goals in the first half, and zero threes. If it wasn’t for the excellent free throw shooting (12/15), the Bulldogs would’ve been in a worse spot. Still, behind resilience that Pitt has shown earlier in the season, the first half ended with a little run by them, making the score 50-30 at halftime.
The second half opened with a block by English, which lead to a dunk by Chrisp, seemingly showing that the dominance would continue. But that was not the case. Over the course of the second half, the Bulldogs had way more efficiency on offense, shooting 61% from the field and 50% from three, a complete turnaround from their first half performance. Pitt got the deficit within four points at one point in the second half.
However, the STORM never gave up the lead. Although they struggled shooting from the field (38%) and from three (18%) in the second half, they made shots when they needed to. English got a much-needed layup to go up 8 with 1:21 to go. Taylor once again proves how elite he is at the free-throw line. He did not miss one free throw for the entirety of the game, and he was very important down the stretch.
Taylor made two free throws to have Davidson go up 8 with 29 seconds to go, and when the Bulldogs were able to get the game to a five-point deficit, Taylor made two more free throws to go up by 7 with 11 seconds to go. A three from the Bulldogs was made, but it was not enough to stop the STORM from capturing their sixth Region 10 tournament title in a row.
Davidson overall shot very well from the free throw line, 79%, which ended up being a major reason for the win. They also scored 28 points off of the 18 turnovers they forced. They also had 21 assists, compared to seven from the Bulldogs, and 17 offensive rebounds.
Because of the tournament win, the STORM have punched their ticket to the NJCAA DII National Tournament. Davidson will find out where they are seeded on the selection show, which is on Tuesday, March 11 at 3:00 PM EST on the NJCAA Network. The tournament begins on March 17 and will go through March 22 in Danville, Illinois at the Mary Miller Gymnasium at Danville Area Community College.