[Eaglesfan27]

After the first 10 minutes, we are down 13-12 as Solomon is our only consistent early scorer.

A 7-0 run puts us down 28-21 with 5 minutes to go. I get Andres back in and sit our tired starters.

Down 36-30 at the half.

I decide to come out in the 2nd half with more full court trapping. We have the more athletic team and it is time to put pressure on them.

They are shooting 50% from the field and 44% from the arc.

McCollum their SG has 11 points.

Solomon leads our team with 9 points. Hodari has 7 and Andres has 5 points along with 3 assists. Andres is 0 of 5 from the floor but is 5 of 6 from the line.

After forcing a miss, Pait with an outlet pass to Solomon who gets it ahead to Hodari for a slam and the foul! He makes the FT to convert the 3 point play. 36-33.

5 minutes to the half, we get out home court rocking with some easy baskets off the full court trap. Santos with one huge dunk in particular. 44-42, we lead.

That triggered our best basketball of the year. The crowd was the loudest I've heard it in our home arena all year and our guys completely fed off of it. For the next 14 minutes, they played high energy defense, high energy offense, and efficient execution. I finally pull my starters who didn't need any rest as the crowd was keeping them pumped with 2:20 to go and a 77-57 lead.

At least at home, we'll be going to the full court press against teams that we can match up with athletically more often now. Even though, we didn't generate many baskets off the press, but the higher tempo just seemed to energize the crowd and our team.


We win the game, 79-66.

Solomon was the player of the game. He thrived in the high tempo offense. 24 points, 6 assists, 2 boards, and 2 steals. He shot 10 of 13, 3 of 4, and 1 of 2. He also had 4 turnovers.

Andres had 16 points, 5 boards, 3 assists, 2 steals. He shot 5 of 11, 0 of 2, and 6 of 9.

Santos had 16 points, 4 boards, 4 assists, an 2 steals. He shot 7 of 11, 1 of 1, and 1 of 2.

Hodari had 14 points, 2 boards, 3 assists, 1 steal, and 1 block. He shot 5 of 6, 0 of 1, and 4 of 5.

Pait had 1 point and 13 boards.

Belser had 6 points and 2 boards in 11 minutes off the bench.



Jan 22 -

An unexpected loss to Fairfield at home as we lose 64-54. Pait was our leading scorer with 17 points. Andres was 2 of 10 from the floor. Hodari was 0 of 8 and Solomon was 2 of 6. Santos had 8 points and 10 boards but fouled out in 24 minutes. Solomon fouled out in 28 minutes and Andres only played 26 minutes due to foul trouble.

We are now 13-7 and don't have much of a chance at 20 wins that I was hoping for this season.


In good news, Jerel Bogans, the JC Freshman C from Erie PA has told me that he is 100% sure that he wants to come to Niagara and as soon as he can sign he will do so. The 6'8 218 pound center should be a very good rebounder for his size and rebounding is one of the biggest things we'll need to add to our bench's frontcourt with the graduation of Belser.


Our next two games are against Canisus and Fairfield. I'm going to sim the first and play the second so that I don't play Canisus again just to mix things up.


Jan 27 -

We beat Canisus again, this time 79-62. We had balanced scoring: Hodari with 16, Andres with 16, Pait with 13, Santos with 12, and Solomon with 6. Solomon also had 8 assists.


We are now 14-7 and our next game is on the 29th at 9-11 Fairfield. Fairfield is struggling to score and they don't have the outside shooters that most of the teams in the conference do. However, they are strong on the interior. This will be a tough matchup for Pait and Santos.