Landon 70 St. Albans 57

Landon Basketball 70 St. Albans School 57 By Vernon Holleman Tonight, the Bears finally put everything together that they had built on during the last few games, and got their first IAC win of the season in blowout fashion on senior night. The Bears controlled the game from the opening tip. Miles Davis scored on pull-up jumpers twice in the first two possessions, and the tone was set. The senior went off in front of a big home crowd, and made it a senior night to remember. Miles finished with 20 points, and was a huge difference for the Bears. The first quarter was controlled by the Bears almost the whole time, and ended with the Bears up 18-12, the most points the Bears have scored in a first quarter during all of IAC play. While the second quarter has often been the Bear’s slow quarter, this changed tonight. The Bears, while only scoring 13, played stellar defense, and Chazz Harley, Justin Patterson, and Julian Larosiliere all had huge blocks in the second quarter. The Bulldog’s advantage in the first meeting between the two teams was St. Alban’s size inside. However, with both of the Bulldog’s big men getting into foul trouble early, this was taken out, and Landon’s defense was able to really pay well, and put pressure on the interior game. Miles Davis would continue to shine after scoring 9 points in the first quarter, putting up 5 more before halftime for a total of 14 at the break. Canin Reynolds would have 9 in the first half, and the Bears would have their first halftime lead of an IAC game this season at 31-23. The second half is where the Bears really began to dominate. Canin Reynolds completed his third straight game scoring over 20 points, and made some incredible moves that really got the crowd on their feet. After the Landon hockey team wrapped up the IAC regular season championship, many students came straight over to watch the basketball team win a dominating game as well. Jake Davidson, who turned 17 and is a varsity hockey player, got a big welcome and singing of happy birthday during a Bulldog timeout. The Bears took a 12 point lead halfway through the quarter, but the Bulldogs had some big 3 pointers that would keep the game interesting. The Bears and Bulldogs traded baskets for much of the rest of the quarter, and finished with the Bears leading 47-41. The fourth quarter was by far the Bear’s best quarter of the game. After struggling time and time again in this quarter of games, the bears finally figured it out, and dominated. The Bears jumped out to a big lead at the beginning of the quarter, growing to 13 at one point, but with about 5 minutes left, was cut to just 5. Canin Reynolds then began to get HOT. Making almost any shot, and hitting clutch free throw after clutch free throw to give the Bears a big advantage, growing the lead to 15 at its largest. Justin Patterson, Julian Larosiliere, and Canin all hit huge free throws to put the game away, something that the Bears have struggled with this year. The end of the game was also a great chance for the Bears to clear the bench, and get seniors who do not play very much in the game. It was great the see the home crowd stay this long in a game that the Bears kept control of, and support the seniors who have given so much time to the program. Chris Duplesie also recorded his first varsity point of his career after bing fouled, and went to the line. He would miss the first free throw, but shake it off and sink the second. This sent the crowd into a frenzy, and really showing how great Landon’s brotherhood is that these guys stuck around to see their friend get his first point of his career on a huge night for him. The game ended in a lopsided 70-53 blowout, and the Bears recorded 70 points for the first time in the IAC season. The Bears will return to action on the road against Episcopal on Tuesday at 6:00. The Bears will be looking to win back to back IAC games for the first time in Coach Perkins tenure, and will need another great performance against the IAC’s best team currently. The Bears showed that they finally could bring everything that had gone well in the last few close losses, and finally get a win. They win really need to lock down outside of the arc, and in the paint against a very physical Episcopal team.