SCIOTOVILLE — The East Tartans defeated the St. Joseph’s Flyers Saturday night by a score of 75-59. It was homecoming for the Tartans and they celebrated with a well-deserved victory in which Center Blaine Scott led all scorers with 24 points. He had a dominant night for the Tartans, as the Flyers failed to stop him despite the double and occasional triple team.
East went to Scott early and often. However, when he was out of the game, East had a bit of trouble conducting their half-court offense. The Flyers managed to take advantage of this early. They worked through Tyler Ward in the post, and managed to take a one point lead going into the second quarter.
After St. Joe’s scored the first two points of the second, East pulled off a tremendous 16-0 run that came off of great ball pressure and transition scoring. The Flyer’s Head Coach, Kevin Sheridan, had a technical foul called against him during the frustrating run. Akia Brown started getting warmed up in the quarter which ended by the Tartans outscoring their opponents 22-6, for a 33-18 lead going into the half.
By the end of the third quarter the Flyer’s managed to cut the lead to single digits. However, with seconds to go Kyle Flannery hit a three to send the lead to 53-41. The Flyers put together a few runs throughout the fourth, but each time they were stopped by the Tartans. With three minutes to go Flyer leading scorer Tyler Ward fouled out, which sealed the deal for the Tartans. Ward would finish with 16, and Drew Lowe would add in another 18 for the Tartans.
“I didn’t think we played very well honestly,” said a candid Tartan Head Coach Adam Bailey. “I thought we were kind of sloppy and sluggish tonight. At times we would go on runs but then we would have defensive breakdowns and give up points that normally we wouldn’t. We played well enough to win, it’s always good that you can get a win even if you don’t live up to your potential, especially by double digits. But there’s plenty we need to work on before Tuesday’s game against Notre Dame.”
“We wanted to pound the ball inside when we got into the half court set. We’ve looked to push the ball more in recent games and we’ve had some success with it. It’s accounted for a bunch of points here lately. We’ve been shooting the ball well and playing well offensively but tonight we were sluggish. We played last night, and this is our sixth game in a week and a half. We may be a little tired, but I was glad the kids responded at the end after our lead was cut to eight. We answered the call and answered their run with one of our own to put it out of reach.”
“For Tuesday, we know Notre Dame has been playing really good basketball. We managed to beat them at their place early in the year but a lot has changed since then. They have gotten better and they defend extremely well. Coach Mader is going to do a good job getting them ready so I am confident it’s going to be a good game and an exciting contest.”
East hosts Notre Dame Tuesday. Game time is at 7:30.
Box Score
East 11 22 20 22 — 75
St. Josephs 12 6 23 18 — 59
Individual Stats:
East: Scott 24, Lowe 18, Brown 12, Flannery 9, Douthat 4, Shope 3, Burton 3, Hatcher 2
St. Josephs: Ward 16, Williams 14, Walters 13, Willis 11, Whaley 5
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