St. Andrews’ Garrett McRae (1) looks to pass the ball around Bryan’s Caleb Grimes (4) during Saturday’s game on Harris Court in Laurinburg.
St. Andrews Athletics
LAURINBURG — The St. Andrews Knights men’s basketball team was overpowered by a 40-for-70 (57.1%) shooting performance from the Bryan College Lions Saturday afternoon on Harris Court, which resulted in a 100-65 loss for the Knights.
St. Andrews (3-13, 1-13 Appalachian Athletic Conference) started the first half strong, gaining a slight 18-14 edge after nine minutes. But an unrelenting offensive push by Bryan (9-8, 7-7 AAC) became too much for the Knights to handle.
Consistent quick ball movement within their system and patience to find the best look at the hoop helped starters Ian Johnson, Dalen Gales and Josh Baugher go a combined 11 of 20 from the field in the first half. Johnson was 4-for-8 from 3-point range and went a perfect 3-for-3 from the free-throw line.
The Knights fought for every basket, with Jeremiah Dickerson going 3-for-6 from the field and 2-for-2 during his lone trip to the foul line for eight first-half points as the home team’s first-half offensive leader.
The Knights entered halftime trailing 48-28.
The Lions started the second half with the same confident shooting from the first half, attacking the basket at every chance. Gales and Johnson were the main contributors, scoring 12 points each on a combined 10 of 16 shooting; Johnson also went 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. For St. Andrews, Dickerson recorded another 10 points on 4-for-7 shooting, and Quwan Barnes wasn’t far behind, sinking nine points on 4-for-7 shooting.
Dickerson finished with 18 points; Jalen Mcafee-Marion had 12 points and three assists; Barnes scored 11 points and Sincere Clark had six rebounds and two blocks.
Johnson had 27 points on 9-for-16 shooting (6-for-11 from 3) and had six rebounds and four steals for the Lions; Gales had 24 points on 10-for-17 shooting and seven rebounds; Baugher missed only one of his seven shot attempts for 12 points, along with seven rebounds and assists each; Caleb Grimes netted 10 points; Caden Johnson had six points, five rebounds and four assists; Logan Allen had eight points and five rebounds and Kheller Die had eight rebounds.
The Lions also wore out the Knights on the boards, outrebounding their competition 45-23. The Knights shot 23-for-64 (35.9%) in the contest.
St. Andrews’ next matchup will be on the road against Columbia International on Tuesday.