BELMONT SECOND HALF PYROTECHNICS BLOW OUT LEXINGTON 91-73
Belmont, MA. 1/25/19. Midway through the first quarter of Friday night’s basketball game against visiting Lexington, two-time league all-star Danny Yardemian was in an unusual place. On the bench. The senior co-captain, who had torched Lexington with 46 points in their last meeting, had 0. It’s hard to score from the bench.
He was joined by the rest of the Belmont starters. Having been summoned there by coach Adam Pritchard, they stayed put for most of the first half, revealing no hint of the havoc they would wreak in the second on their way to a 91-73 win, their tenth straight in the Middlesex Liberty.
The visiting Minutemen had opened with an unusual zone defense that seemed to flummox the Marauders, making them look like what they almost never look like—slow.
“They didn’t come out with anywhere near the energy or effort that was necessary,” said Belmont coach Adam Pritchard. “The ball wasn’t moving. We were getting beaten off the dribble. We were doing all these things that make us beatable. You can’t do that against a good team like Lexington.”
Yardemian seconded his coach. “We were sluggish, and the coach made his point. ‘If you guys aren’t ready to play, we’ll play the guys who are,’” he said, adding, “It was a good move. We needed that…and the other guys stepped up, too.”
Fortunately, Belmont’s bench performed and led by junior guards Tyler Shapazian and Mike Giangregorio and sophomore Preston Jackson-Stephens held a slim lead 18-15 at the end of one.
Lexington took the lead back at 31-30 with 2:45 left in the half on senior co-captain Dante Ortiz ‘cross-over dribble and lefty drive down the lane.
Then a flurry of Lexington turnovers on four straight possessions, led to a Belmont 8-0 run that secured a 43-36 lead at the half, but probably still not a lot of happiness in the Marauder locker room.
Lexington opened the second with an 8-0 run of their own to re-take the lead at 45-43 as senior co-captain Kase Cronin hit two free throws, junior guard Will Amsler got to the rim twice and junior guard Ted Schroeder capped the run with a long three.
But the flurry seemed only to poke the monster, and Belmont’s starters woke up to deliver what they usually do at some point in every game—a few lethal minutes of controlled chaos.
Yardemian was the catalyst as usual, immediately answering Schroeder’s three with one of his own then following it with a three-point play and another long trey—an individual 9-0 run.
With the long arms of senior co-captain Ben Sseruwagi seemingly everywhere on defense, Lexington turned it over seven times in their next 12 possessions and Belmont, who feasts on turnovers, transitioned every one into points on their way to a 22-4 explosion in just four minutes.
At the two minute mark Lexington coach Reggie Hobbs called time trying to stem the tide to no avail, as Belmont junior guard Mac Annus immediately hit a corner three right out of the break, his third of the game. By the quarter’s end it was game over, 77-53 with Belmont having rung up a jaw-dropping 34 points in eight minutes.
Two minutes later the Belmont starters were back on the bench, feeling a bit differently than their earlier visit there. Despite his limited playing time Yardemian still lit it up with 31 points. “That first half was really tough,” he said. “But our bench stepped up anyway and that was huge for us. But we were glad to get it going in the second.”
Annus had another strong game for the Marauders with 20 points while Jackson-Stevens added 9.
Ortiz led the visitors with 16. Amsler and Schroeder both had 15 with all of Schroeder’s coming on five three pointers.
The win kept highly ranked Belmont, now 12-1, undefeated atop the Middlesex Liberty at 10-0 while the loss dropped Lexington into third place behind Arlington.
Belmont visits Wakefield next Tuesday night at 6. Lexington hosts Waltham Sunday afternoon at 2 in a non-league contest.