Gates Mills, Ohio– VASJ came into the matchup red hot winning nine of their last ten games averaging over 70 points during the stretch. Gilmour coming off a thriller two point overtime win over St. Charles looked to protect their homecourt versus Joes. The trio of Jeremiah Martin, Antonio Brown and Quandell Wright combined for 55 of the Vikings 75 points in their75-70 win.
I got to speak with Vikings forward tonight Antonio Brown about his performance after the win.
“I seen that they were smaller than me and I’m a big guy you know," said Brown. "My coaches recognized the mismatches, they got it to me in the paint to get easy buckets.”
VASJ and Gilmour both got going from three early. Jeremiah Martin came out and scored nine first quarter points, he knocked down two threes. An 11-0 run to end the quarter was big for Gilmour. David Pfundstein and Kysaiah Jackson knocked down threes during the run. Gilmour went into the second up 23-18.
Gilmour’s hot streak from three continued in the second quarter. Jimmy Lawless hit a three two minutes into the quarter forcing a timeout. He hit another one later in the quarter to put Gilmour up 35-28 with 3:30 to go.
The Vikings started to turn things up defensively with more ball pressure. They forced numerous turnovers resulting in buckets around the rim for Quandell Wright and Antonio Brown. VASJ ended the half trailing 38-34.
The Lancers jumped out to a 46-42 lead in the third after a three from Jimmie Lawless forcing a timeout. The Vikinds started to get more touches in paint off of their turnovers. Baskets from Martin and Quandell Wright helped them fight back, tying the game at 53. Lawless took the lead back with another three around the one minute mark. The Lancers finished the quarter up 56-55.
VASJ took a 61-60 lead with a putback from Brayden Daniels two minutes into the quarter. A few minutes later Pfundstein and Lawless scored to take the lead back for the Lancers. Antonio Brown answered with a coast to coast layup to tie it at 65 as three minutes remained.
Brown followed up with another basket around the rim to put the Vikings up 67-65 a minute later going into a timeout. Martin seemed to put the game away from the foul line but there was no quit in Gilmour. After a three from Tim Lee and a bucket from Pfundstein the Lancers trailed 73-70 with 20 seconds left. Antonio Brown sealed the game with a pair of free throws to give the Vikings the 75-70 win.
I also got to speak with Vikings head coach Ashen Ward after the win.
“God blessed me with a group that they genuinely love each other," said Ward. "I think that’s the difference in these tight games…they truly want to win for one another.. we’re a big family here at VASJ and it shows in the games.”
Jimmie Lawless had a game high 22 points, Pfundstein ended with 19. Jeremiah Martin led Joes with 20 points, Antonio Brown finished with 18 and Wright ended with 17.
With the win tonight VASJ improves to 13-6 winning 10 of their last 11 games. They will be back at home February 13th at 7 PM versus Hawken.
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