Northampton Spartans (5-0)
guard Dontae Davis had 17
points and was 6/10 from the
field and 3/5 from three point
range to help his team stay
undefeated and beat the Centurions
(0-5) by a score of
73-58 on Dec. 8.
The turning point in the
game came in the second half
when the Spartans came out
with more energy than the
Centurions and started draining
threes thanks to guards
Andrew Miller, Seth Stoudt
and Davis. Miller and Stoudt
had 13 and 12 points respectively.
“We played good defense
and rebounded well and just
controlled their scoring
runs,” Miller said.
For the Centurions forward
Dontay Mobley was 9/15
shooting for 20 points and 10
rebounds and fellow forward
Tyler Nichol had 12 points
on 6/10 shooting while
adding 11 rebounds.
“We played good, but they
just made their shots,” Nichol
said.
If the Centurions were supposed
to be intimidated about
playing an undefeated opponent
they certainly did not
show it as they got a quick
bucket right after the opening
tip.
Davis was hot early though,
scoring seven of his 17 points
to help pace the Spartans, but
the Centurions kept up with
the score 11-10.
After the game was tied at
11 both teams struggled to
score for a stretch, but then
drama ensued.
When Spartan forward Zach
Hankerson was trying to
muscle his way towards the
basket, Centurion guard Giovanni
Romero took an elbow
to just above his eye. causing
it to start bleeding badly.
Romero was forced to leave
the court and did not return to
the game.
“That really affected us,”
Centurion head coach Donald
Perry said. “He is one of our
best players.”
The Centurions did a good
job rebounding the ball and
seemed to focus on good ball
movement throughout the
game.
The Centurions then picked
up the pace as they went on a
10-2 run to go ahead 21-13
behind guard Shane Davis
and Nichol. The Spartans did
mount a little bit of a comeback
to get it with 21-19 only
to see the Centurions surge
ahead again 23-19.
At the end of the half the
Spartans took advantge of a
flurry of Centurion turnovers
to go ahead 28-25. The half
ended with the Centurions
scrapping their way back to
tie the game at 28.
The Centurions started the
second half slow and paid the
price as the Spartans went on
a 9-2 run for a score of 37-
27.
Both teams were sloppy this
game as they committed multiple
offensive and defensive
fouls, but the Centurions
were the larger culprits
The game then switched
gears as the Spartans went on
a scoring drought and the
Centurions turned it on to go
on a 9-0 run midway through
the half to take the lead 45-
42.Moments later the Spartans
tied the game at 46, but then
Miller put the team on his
back as he scored all eight of
the Spartans 8-2 run to take a
54-48 lead.
As the Spartans continued to
add to their lead the Centurions
struggled with their
shooting as they sensed the
game was getting away from
them. To make matters worse
Centurions’ guard Dimitri
McCoy injured his ribs, hurting
any chance of a rally with
the score 65-53.
Stoudt then took over the
game as he helped the Spartans
finish the game on 12-0
run with two of his three
balls.
After the game Spartan head
coach Kevin Foley seemed
impressed with the Centurions
effort.
“I think Bucks played fantastic
and they gave us as
much as we could handle,”
Foley said. “At halftime I
didn’t do anything special,
but just give the guys some
good motivation.
Perry was optimistic too,
when he said, “I think we
played our best basketball of
the season. Offense has been
our strength this season, but
we just to have to get better
on defense.”