The Blazers light up the Knights in a close game

On Monday, Dec.15 The Blazers (1-2) took down the Wheaton Knights (2-2) in a neck and neck game, ending the night with a deserved 70-58 win for the Blazers. 

Right at tip off, Wheaton pulled ahead after landing some hard shots in the opening minutes. Up until Blair gained some rhythm in the late first and early second quarter, Wheaton was winning many successful rebounds and hitting jaw clenching threes, sparking hints of worry on whether the game was going to be tougher than anticipated. The thoughts were only fueled when it was clear Blair began fighting back passionately, but failed to pull through with a lead before the first quarter finished. The sequence ended with a panicked timeout call by Blair with less than 30 seconds on the clock. Wheaton closed out the first quarter 23-16.   

After the intermission, Blair was locked in, all thanks to coaching changes no doubt. Everything seemed to be flowing for the Blazers, especially the layups they got in transition. Blair’s forward, junior Joel Turkson was the MVP in regards to accumulating points off the layups, always getting ahead of Wheaton players and helping to secure the eventual lead that would put the Blazers up in the second quarter. Aside from the crucial layups, senior point guard Bakarr Abu had an excellent steal before the Knights were able to get the ball past half court, shifting the momentum entirely to the Blazers and capping off a much better 2nd quarter performance for Blair. 

Morale was visibly shaken for Wheaton after an exciting performance from Blair’s Poms team during halftime. However, surprising many in the gym, even with rejuvenated Blair players, Wheaton started the third quarter with some good takes to the rim. Nonetheless, Blazers skill shined through as they kept a steady pace and continued their lead against the Knights. Slow and steady proved to be the winning strategy as Wheaton was forced to call a timeout with five minutes left in the third due to their failure to catch up. The Knights frustration became evident on the court when they fouled junior center Koa Mussman. Unfortunately, Mussman and other Blair players didn’t capitalize off these fouls, missing a large amount of their free throws. Still, the Blazers were able to scrape by with a lead of five points to finish the third quarter. 

The lead was not safe heading into the fourth, as it was still a two possession game. All that was left for the Blazers was to close the deal in the fourth quarter, and that’s exactly what they did. With an awesome start to the fourth, senior guard Bakarr Abu, had a fantastic spin move into a floater inside the paint which spurred cheers from the crowd. However, it wasn’t all smooth sailing from there. Blair struggled with long distance passes, marked by several turnovers because Blazer players couldn’t get to the ball before it went out of bounds. In spite of that, the Blazers were able to secure a 70-58 win against this tough team. All in all, it was a tight game where Blair managed to scrape by utilizing their tall offense and dialing in after the first quarter. 

Head coach Dominique Scott revealed his feelings about their win. “It was a great win. Hard fought; they were a good team. I give all credit to the guys. They played hard the whole game,” Scott said. “I think we turned it up in that third quarter a little bit, we were able to cause some turnovers that led to easy baskets.”

Make sure to catch the Blazers next game against B-CC on Dec. 17.