February 6, 2025 – The Davidson-Davie STORM secured another Region 10 victory, 104-80, over the Cleveland Community College Yetis in Brinkley Gym on Wednesday night. They improve to 13-1 in conference play and 21-2 overall.
Davidson was led by a 30-point performance from Lamonte Cousar, who also grabbed nine rebounds. Ethan English had 20 points, while Kobe Parker had 17 with five threes. Aden Taylor had 15 points and nine rebounds (five of them offensive), and Will Gray managed to get ten points and six steals.
The STORM also shot efficiently throughout the entire game. They shot 57.4% from the field, 57.1% from three, and 75% from the free throw line, all well above the season averages.
The Yetis tested Davidson for the first half though. They made eight threes and managed to end the half only down by two, 50-48. While the STORM contested shots well, where they faltered was turnovers. Each team ended with over 20 turnovers in the game, but Davidson had costly ones in the first half.
“They’ve made some incredible shots,” head coach Matt Ridge said at halftime. “We’ve got to get stops. They scored 48 points in a half and that’s not us. But we’ve got to defend better. We lost our man at times and we wouldn’t block out. But that’s on me to get them to play smarter and more sound defensively.”
And that they did. The STORM would end up outscoring the Yetis 54-32 in the second half to get the win. English even got a block at one point and went coast-to-coast to get an and-one layup.
Taylor was an offensive rebounding machine, getting five of his nine rebounds on the offensive side as a guard. One of his rebounds led to a Cousar and-one to give Davidson an 11-point lead. “It seemed like every time I looked up, he was flying around on both ends,” Ridge said about Taylor post-game.
Cousar continued to dominate inside. Shooting 12/16 for the game, he was unstoppable against Cleveland. “Lamonte’s a big-time talent,” Ridge said. “When he plays hard, he’s a load in the post. Got to give his teammates some credit for getting the ball to him, and he’s really good at finishing around the rim.”
A great sight to see was Parker finding his confidence in his three-point shot. He shot 5/8 from behind the arc, and especially contributed to a run in the second half for the STORM, hitting three crucial threes with under ten minutes to go in the game.
“Kobe’s starting to feel more confident shooting the ball,” Ridge said. “Teammates are doing a good job of finding him, and he’s doing a good job of moving without the ball to get open, and he’s starting to find the rim more.”
Davidson was also able to outscore Cleveland in bench points 34-27, and win the rebound war 43-27. They also had 22 assists compared to the Yetis only had eight. All of these variables combine to a great win for Davidson.
The STORM return to action on Super Bowl Sunday at 2:00 P.M. against the CCBC Dundalk Lions on February 9 at Brinkley Gym.