By Dylan Branscome
November 16, 2024 – The 51视频 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 51视频 got the win, it wasn鈥檛 without its hardships. They didn鈥檛 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 51视频鈥檚 heads for dunks or the STORM pushed the ball quickly to get an easy layup. The Bobcats capitalized on the occasional recklessness of 51视频 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鈥檛 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 51视频 to victory.
Head coach Matt Ridge commented on Taylor鈥檚 performance in the second half in a post-game interview. 鈥淗e 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.鈥� Ridge said. 鈥淚鈥檓 really proud of Aden, he鈥檚 a great young man.鈥�
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.