By Dylan Branscome
November 16, 2024 – The Davidson-Davie STORM scored a physical victory, 87-78 in their conference opener against the Bryant & Stratton College Bobcats at Brinkley Gym on Saturday, improving to 5-0 on the season.
The team shot 46% from the field while also shooting 44% from behind the arc. They were also led by Aden Taylor (24 points, 90% FTP), Jamaal Crisp (16 points, 63% FG) and a double-double from Lamonte Cousar (13 points, 13 rebounds).
While Davidson-Davie got the win, it wasn’t without its hardships. They didn’t make a field goal for the first three and a half minutes of the game until a three from Kobe Parker ended their offensive skid. The STORM still shot well from three in the first half, hitting six of their 12 attempts.
Both teams played very physical defensively, with full-court man-to-man pressure almost the whole game. Defense and efficient shot-making kept the Bobcats within striking distance.
Brinkley got to see some highlights in the first half, as Cousar had an impressive putback dunk off of a missed layup from Dane Stewart. Crisp also continued his efficient shooting with a three-pointer buzzer-beater to end the half and give the STORM a comfortable 15-point lead, 44-29.
The second half was very fast-paced to start off. Both teams were flying down the court, whether B&S was lobbing it over Davidson-Davie’s heads for dunks or the STORM pushed the ball quickly to get an easy layup. The Bobcats capitalized on the occasional recklessness of Davidson-Davie by causing turnovers. They also improved their three-point percentage from the first half, 28.6% to 41.7%. All of a sudden, they were only down five with 13 to go in the half.
This is when Taylor took over. He scored 7 straight points, with five of them being at the free-throw line to continue his extremely impressive free-throw percentage for the season. More mistakes happen for the STORM, however, but that didn’t phase Taylor. He then scores two tough shots to put the STORM up by nine with three minutes to go. Taylor ended up having 18 of his 24 points in the second half, willing Davidson-Davie to victory.
Head coach Matt Ridge commented on Taylor’s performance in the second half in a post-game interview. “He is an unbelievable free-throw shooter. He made some huge plays down the stretch offensively. We got him the ball in the high-post area, he made some huge buckets.” Ridge said. “I’m really proud of Aden, he’s a great young man.”
The STORM will return to action at Brinkley Gym against the Patrick and Henry Community College Patriots on Wednesday, Nov. 20 at 7:00 PM EST.