Kaymarie Jones
The Paw Print
On the strength of the Adams State University ‘s men’s basketball defensive players, the Grizzlies defeated Northern New Mexico University on Monday night with a score of 81-74.
Sharp three-point shooting lifts came from junior, Dequan Jones; Brooklyn, New York. Jones scored 16 points for the hot-shooting Grizzlies, played for 32 minutes, and snatched 2 steals.
“Our goal is not to win; it’s to play hard, smart, and together, then winning would take care of itself! I thank God for giving me the opportunity to play, for ASU and Coach Wilson, and I tip my hat to my team for sticking together,” Jones celebrated.
Skillful assists from Charles Cole and Bruno Machado brought Julian Scott to smash the most impressive slam-dunk of the night. Cole, the ASU senior, made two of his shots behind the arc and three overall assists. Machado; San Paola, Brazil, pulled the Grizzlies together during game breaks, scored 5 points, and delivered 1 block. Scott brought his regular effort by taking 14 points to the basket and gathering eight rebounds. Playing for 31 minutes, Scott logged 1 steal, 2 turnovers, and 1 assist.
The game seemed primed for a win when Mikey Hope, Tacoma, WA; joined Jones in the double digits and scored 15 points. The fourth Grizzly to put up a double was the junior from Washington, Mike Hemsley. He scored 12 points, had 1 turnover, and recorded 4 steals, which was the most steals of the night. Junior, Jaree Crawford; Indiana, put on a stirring defensive performance, but was fouled out in his tenth minute of play. He made 3 field goals of his 5 attempts and added 6 points for the Grizzlies in his young season.
“Playing ‘Help the Helper’ on Monday shows that we are our brothers’ keeper and, because we are a team that works on defense more than anything, what I did on the defensive side was a demonstration of how we all get after the ball,” Crawford explained.
Adams State shot 12-29 (41.38%) in the first half and 13-34 (38.24%) in the second half, while the Eagles shot 10-30 (33.33%) in the first half and 13-31 (41.94%) in the second half. The scores were only tied once, with one lead change and the largest lead pinned at 11 in the eighteenth minute of the second half.
Last season, when the Grizzlies faced the Eagles, the Grizzlies celebrated a 75-55 win. ASU played at 53.3% in the first half and 51.7% in the second half. The highest score for a Grizzly shooter in that game came from James Lake. Lake scored 14 points, had 5 assists, and 3 turnovers in 26 minutes. His teammate, Steven Rupel, added another 11 points and 2 steals. Christian Franklin, Rodrigo Silvia, Machado, Norvell Arnold, and four other Grizzlies were counted in the final points.
This season, the Grizzlies are 2-0 scoring 206 points with their opponents only scoring 154 overall. They’ve made 70 field goals and attempted 133; their opponents have made 47 of 121.
ASU is headed to South Dakota School of Mines on November 30th. Stay tuned to asugrizzlies.com and KSPK Radio for updates and game stats.
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