By Dylan Branscome
November 26, 2024 – The Davidson-Davie STORM pick up a tough Region 10 victory, 113-99, over the Fayetteville Tech Trojans on Tuesday night in Brinkley Gym.
Davidson was led by a pair of stellar performances from Ethan English (30 points, 13/13 FT, 5 steals) and Lamonte Cousar (27 points, 7 rebounds) to get their third conference victory this season. The STORM now improve to 8-0 on the season and 3-0 in Region 10.
Davidson-Davie came out strong on the first possession defensively, forcing a shot clock violation to kick off the game. This is the first of the Trojans’ 24 turnovers on the night.
The story of the night came from foul trouble. Both teams were in the double bonus before the nine-minute mark of the first half. By the end of the night, the STORM had six players with four fouls, and the Trojans had seven players with three. While Davidson was able to capitalize on this, shooting 78% from the line, the Trojans struggled, shooting 62%. Fayetteville Tech also lost the game by fourteen, and they lost sixteen points at the free throw line (27/43), truly showing how important it is to score the easy points.
English scored 17 in the first half, while Cousar scored 16, both proving to be unstoppable early. Davidson also had 32 of their 49 points off of the bench this half.
Both teams went back and forth for the first several minutes of the second half. Will Gray and Jamaal Chrisp then lead the STORM to a 21-point lead with 10 minutes to go by making tough shots and converting and-one plays. Davidson-Davie had a comfortable lead for most of the half, getting up as high as 21 points.
Then, after some sloppy turnovers and poor shot selection from Davidson, all the sudden the Trojans were back in the game. It didn’t help that Fayetteville Tech was shooting exceptionally from the field (60%) in the second half.
FTCC was able to get the game to five points with under four minutes to play, making big threes and driving by the Davidson defenders. English then decided to take over the game for a period. He would go on to score six straight tough buckets at the rim to give the STORM more of a cushion. Chrisp then shot the three-point dagger to go up by 12 with 1:19 to go, while English and Aden Taylor continued to convert free throws efficiently, as they have grown accustomed to this season.
While Davidson did not shoot well from three (5/16, 31%), their free throw percentage has been impressive all season, and that included this game. They shot 36/46, a very efficient 78%.
The STORM did a fantastic job of responding to the late run by the Trojans, and head coach Matt Ridge acknowledged that in a post-game interview. “I was really proud of how we responded when they made the run,” Ridge said. “Jamaal (Chrisp) hit a huge three in one of our sets, that was a big-time shot. During that stretch, we started playing a little bit smarter and ran some clock.”
Ridge also highlighted Ethan English, who played his first game since the season opener and was the STORM’s leading scorer and a huge defensive presence during the game. “I really want to highlight Ethan English in his first game back,” Ridge said post-game. “I thought he played his butt off, played not just hard, but smart for the most part. Really proud of that young man. He played with poise for the most part and played incredibly hard. Phenomenal player, welcome back Ethan.”
The STORM return to action against another Region 10 opponent, the Catawba Valley Red Hawks, on Wednesday, Dec. 4 at 7:00 PM EST in Brinkley Gym.