What do you do to slow down a team averaging 102 points a game?
“The key is the defense making stops and making them take tough shots,” Armstrong Atlantic State University point guard Aric Miller said. “We had to buckle down, and we did.”
The Pirates played lockdown defense and owned the boards Saturday afternoon at Alumni Center to knock off high-scoring Francis Marion 79-71 in a Peach Belt Conference game.
The Patriots entered the game as the second-highest scoring team in NCAA Division II, trailing only West Liberty (W.Va.) State University, which is averaging 116 points per game.
The win was the third in a row for the Pirates (7-4, 3-1) who are off to their best start in conference play under coach Jeremy Luther, now in his fourth season at Armstrong.
Despite glitzy offensive numbers, the Patriots remain winless in conference play at 0-4 and are 4-6 overall.
Augusta State and USC-Aiken are considered the top two teams in the PBC, but the Pirates are intent on making themselves part of the mix.
They will get their chance beginning 7:30 p.m. Thursday when they host Lander and former coach Jeff Burkhammer before a Saturday trip to Augusta State.
Miller, who leads the conference in scoring at 19 points a game, was only two assists shy of his second triple-double of the season. Miller poured in 24 points and pulled down 12 rebounds to go with his eight assists while playing a game-high 39 minutes.
The Stone Mountain senior got solid support from 6-foot-8 junior Eric Eversley, who pulled down a game-high 15 rebounds while scoring 12 points. Armstrong held a commanding 61-37 edge on the boards and had 22 offensive rebounds.
Luther has a short bench — he plays only eight players — but each contributed to the win. Everyone in the lineup played at least 16 minutes.
J.C. Winn had 14 points and nine rebounds while Antroine Williford had 10 rebounds to go with his six points.
“It was effort and motor,” Eversley said of his big night on the boards. “To rebound, you’ve got to have a good motor.
“You can never stop,” Eversley said. “You’ve got to use spin moves ... whatever it takes. You have to get your hands on the ball.”
There wasn’t a shot from anyplace on the floor the Patriots didn’t like, but they got few open opportunities.
Half of Francis Marion’s 76 field-goal attempts came from 3-point range, and it made 13. By contrast, only 16 of Armstrong’s 74 shots were from beyond the arc, and it made four.
“We made their big guys take longer shots,” Miller said, “and we held their leading scorer to four points.”
That would be Evrik Gary, who came into the game averaging 16 points per game, but he made only two of seven shots, and never got to the foul line as he could not shake Pirate defenders.
Armstrong took the lead for good at 8-7 five minutes into the game on Winn’s dunk. The Pirates led by as many as 10 points on more than one occasion but didn’t put the Patriots away for good until the finish.
“I never felt we were in jeopardy,” Luther said, “because we were making them take tough shots. We manufactured our points, but when they scored it was on a tough shot, not a high-percentage shot.”
With 13:53 to play, the Pirates were clinging to a 57-53 lead, but Eversley scored twice inside and Winn hit a jumper to get the lead back to 10. The pesky Patriots had one rally left, this time cutting it to 67-66 at the 6:25 mark.
The Pirates again had the answer as they scored six straight to get the breathing room they needed to close it out.
“We bent, but we didn’t break,” Luther said. “This is the third game in a row the character of this team was not broken.”
FRANCIS MARION (4-6, 0-4 PBC)
Jones 1-4 0-0 3; Carpenter 3-8 0-0 8; Freeman 6-15 0-0 13; Williams 1-3 0-0 3; Gary 2-7 0-2 4; Rhodes 2-5 0-0 5; Deihl 1-3 0-0 3; Caldwell 0-4 0-0 0; Nero 3-5 0-0 7; Caron 1-2 0-0 3; Lee 3-5 0-0 9; Clonch 1-6 0-0 3; Melvin 4-8 0-0 8; Tucker 1-2 0-0 2. Totals: 29-76 0-4 71.
ARMSTRONG (7-4, 3-1 PBC)
Eversley 6-10 0-2 12; Williford 2-11 1-4 6; Winn 6-14 2-2 14; Miller 11-21 2-4 24; Bellinger 3-4 2-2 11; Callanan 0-5 2-2 2; Walker 1-2 3-3 5; Morales 2-7 1-4 5. Totals: 31-74 13-23 79.
Halftime—Armstrong 44-40. 3-point goals—FM 13-38 (Jones 1-3; Carpenter 2-6; Freeman 1-7; Williams 1-2; Gary 0-2; Rhodes 1-1; Deihl 1-3; Caldwell 0-2; Nero 1-1; Caron 1-2; Lee 3-5; Clonch 1-4). Armstrong 4-16 (Eversley 0-1; Williford 1-4; Winn 0-2; Miller 0-2; Bellinger 3-3; Callanan 0-3; Walker 0-1). Fouled out—None. Rebounds—FM 37 (Gary 9, Freeman 6). Armstrong 61 (Eversley 15, Miller 12, Williford 10). Assists—FM 12 (six players with two each). Armstrong 14 (Miller 8, Callanan 3). Total fouls—FM 19; Armstrong 11. Technical fouls—None. A—367.
Women
ARMSTRONG 94,
FRANCIS MARION 72
It would be difficult to convince Francis Marion coach Kate Glusko that Armstrong Atlantic State University’s women’s team was struggling.
The Lady Pirates snapped a four-game losing streak Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena, and they did it with a vengeance against the unsuspecting Lady Patriots.
Armstrong placed six players in double figures and coasted to a win over against the Pats (6-4, 1-3 PBC) to post their first Peach Belt Conference win of the season.
The Lady Pirates (6-5, 1-3) were coming off a miserable shooting performance in their last outing, a 71-57 loss at unbeaten Clayton State, in which they shot only 24 percent.
However, coach Matt Schmidt’s team found familiar surroundings to be their liking as they hit 58.1 percent of their shots (36 of 62) while hitting 18 of 23 attempts at the foul line.
Karolina Rykowska, a 5-foot-11 senior guard, had 18 points and nine rebounds for the Lady Pirates — scoring 12 in the first half when Armstrong raced out to a 43-22 lead.
Mauri Wells, a 6-0 junior from Rome — as in Georgia — had 13 points and pulled down a game-high 13 rebounds to help Armstrong to a decisive 48-23 advantage on the boards.
It was a season high in scoring for the Lady Pirates, who twice had scored 79 points in a game.
FRANCIS MARION (6-4, 1-3 PBC)
Gause 10-15 0-0120; Williams-Hayes 7-8 1-2 15; Gray 4-11 3-3 2; Robinson 1-6 0-0 2; Dash 4-4 0-0 10; Toney 0-1 0-0 0, Pinkett 1-6 0-0 3; Roach 3-5 0-1 6; Dickerson 1-13 1-2 3. Totals 31-69 5-9 72.
ARMSTRONG (6-5, 1-3 PBC)
Mills 7-11 0-3 14; Rykowska 7-10 4-4 18; Coney 3-7 4-4 10; Davis 6-9 0-0 13; Klewicki-McNutt 5-8 2-2 12; Heyward 0-1 0-0 0; Carlson 2-4 2-2 7; Wells 5-10 2-2 13; Carreras 1-2 4-6 7. Totals 36-62 18-23 94.
Halftime—Armstrong 43-22. 3-point goals—FM 5-14 (Gray 1-3; Robinson 1-3; Dash 2-2; Pinkett 1-4; Dickerson 0-2). Armstrong 4-10 (Coney 0-1; Davis 1-3; Klewicki-McNutt 0-1; Hayward 0-1; Carlson 1-2; Wells 1-1; Carreras 1-1). Fouled out—Williams-Hayes. Rebounds—FM 23 (Gause 5, Williams-Hayes 4; Gray 4; Toney 4). Armstrong 48 (Wells 13; Rykowska 9; Hayward 4. Assists—FM 12 (Robinson 4; Gause 3). Armstrong 24 (Davis 6; Mills 4; Rykowska 3; Coney 3; Klewicki-McNutt 3; Hayward 3). Total fouls—FM 15; Armstrong 13. A—216.