Fri, Jan 04, 2013
07:00 PM @
North Andover
| Team |
1 |
2 |
3 |
4 |
Final |
| Lawrence |
5 |
13 |
18 |
20 |
56 |
| North Andover |
15 |
14 |
25 |
12 |
66 |
Without Coach McVeigh, Knights run past Lawrence
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Friday, January, 04
By Hector Longo
NORTH ANDOVER — "Coach has been here 31 years, and he's missed two games. That's a pretty good record. I just think his players wanted to show they appreciate it," said interim coach Ted Schruender.
With head coach Mike McVeigh out with a nasty flu bug, the Knights blasted out to a 15-1 lead over Lawrence and protected the margin admirably, holding off a late Lancer charge for the 66-56 win.
"We expect him back for our next game," Schruender of McVeigh, who was kept up to date via text by his son John at courtside. "I think he knew we have some pretty good leadership out here in guys like Derek (Collins) and Isaiah Nelsen, and the kids responded very well."
The Knights, disappointed over the break in an opening-round loss to rival Andover in the Christmas Tournament, showed they have recovered nicely by moving to 6-1.
Lawrence, playing without three regulars including big man Tre'Von Farley, simply had no answers for the Knight inside tandem of Chris Bardwell (18 points, 13 rebounds) and Isaiah Nelsen (17, 10).
"We just didn't box them out," lamented Lancer skipper Raymond Nunez, noting that guards Luis Torres and Julius Martinez joined Farley with what the coach termed "injuries."
"A lot like the Central game, we started very slowly, especially on defense, and we struggled again on the foul line. It's tough to come back all the time."
Especially when you hit just 11 of 28 free throws.
The defense can be worked on and improved. But can anything be done to help the foul shooting?
"Just get in the gym and keep shooting them," said Nunez.
Leading 25-18 at the break, the Knights pushed it to 54-36 after three.
"We expected a run from Lawrence," said Schruender. "That's what happens in the MVC."
Lawrence, behind 11 second half points from Brian Morales and some courageous drives by Esmellin Romero (team-high 18 points), the Lancers closed to 60-54 with 2:05 left on a Dantae Neal follow.
But Bardwell delivered a back-breaking stickback with about 90 seconds left, and the Knights preserved the win making 4 of 7 free throws to ice it.
"We all definitely miss Coach McVeigh," said Collins, who had 18 points in the win. "But you have to give it up for Coach Schruender. I mean, he found out he'd be coaching the game on Thursday, 15 minutes before practice. And he did a great job for us."
Game Statistics:
Lawrence (56): Esmellin Romero 7 4-11 18, Brian Morales 4 1-2 11, Johnathan Paulino 1 1-4 3, Kevin Fabian 1 0-0 3, D.J. Gonzalez 2 2-4 6, Roberto Speing 1 3-6 5, Dantae Neal 5 0-1 10, Totals 21 11-28 56
North Andover (66): Kyle White 0 1-2 1, Brett Daley 1 1-2 3, Derek Collins 6 2-3 18, Alex Gorgoni 3 2-4 9, Chris Bardwell 9 0-2 18, Isaiah Nelsen 6 5-5 17, Totals 25 11-18 66
3-pointers: L — Morales 2, Fabian; NA — Collins 4, Gorgoni
