Despite struggling earlier this season, the Brickies gave Andrean (10-3, 3-0) a run for their money as they hosted the 59ers in a conference game tonight.
The Brickies (2-9, 0-1) battled hard to stay within striking distance of Andrean during the first half of the game, scoring 9 points to Andrean’s 13 in the first quarter, and keeping it close going into the half, with Andrean 25 – Hobart 21.
Andrean head coach Brad Stangel gave respect to the Brickies.
“This is our third game in the last four days, and I think it took us a little bit to get in a rhythm here tonight, but they (Hobart) did a nice job with their 2-3 zone, disrupting the flow of the game. We made some adjustments at halftime, got the ball inside a little more, and I think that was the difference in the third quarter that really started to put us ahead.”
Coach Stangel gave much of the credit for his team’s performance in the second half to 6’ 2” senior guard, #22 Deshon Burnett.
“The energy from Deshon in the third quarter was pretty special. As a senior and a leader, to go and do what he did for us in that period was really a big spark for us and really helped us pull ahead,” said Stangel.
“Despite the defensive pressure, we still made some shots and opened things up a bit.”
Lead scorers for Andrean in the game included #15 Gabe Gillespie, a 6’ 5” junior forward, who connected with strings of field goals in the middle of the game and scored 15 points, and #32 Nicky Flesher, 6’ 0” senior guard with 14 points.
Leading the Brickies for team points in the game were #23 Fabian Salazar-Bernal, 6’ 1” senior guard with 9 points. Tied with 8 points each were #12 Anthony Williams, 6’ 2” junior forward and #30 Max Jancich, 6’ 4” senior forward.
Andrean will have a few days to rest before they host Gary West Side (15-3, 3-1) for a non-conference game on Tuesday. Hobart looks forward to welcoming the Lowell Red Devils (9-7, 1-2) on Tuesday for a conference game.
