Dawgs’ Defense Dominates

High Point 38
Georgia 85

Well. I didn’t know we could do that. Our largest margin of victory thus far this season has been by 9 points, against Arkansas State. Until last night, that is.

While we played well enough to go into the half with a ten-point lead, it was clear that Coach Fox wasn’t satisfied because the Dawgs came out on fire in the second half, both on offense and defense. Gerald Robinson lead the way with a season-high 21 points, garnering a Player of the game distinction in the process, while Trey Thompkins put up 15 points of his own.

On defense, Jeremy Price and Chris Barnes both had 3 blocks, including several of the “get that shit out of here!” variety. Dawgs finished with 11 blocks on the evening and also caused 19 Panthers’ turnovers. And Travis Leslie…while he didn’t score a lot of points, he was all over one of the Panthers’ top scorers, Nick Barbour. In fact, Barbour didn’t score his only basket of the game until Coach Fox sat his starters and cleared the bench.

Speaking of which, I saw Dawgs players late in the second half that I didn’t recognize. At all. But I did recognize Connor Nolte, who lead the reserves with 11 points. Even crowd favorite, Matt Bucklin got in on the action, scoring his first point of the season on a free throw. It was obvious how overmatched the Panthers were against us when they failed to make any sort of run, even against our reserves.

In the end, the Dawgs did what they needed to do and easily put away a team that we should have and did dominate. One last thing: how unfair is it for a 6’10 forward with spectacular skills in the paint to have such a sweet three-point shot? I’m referring, of course, to Trey Thompkins. While he’s made several three-point attempts in the past, I never get over just how much of a joy it is for me to see Thompkins do it. It reminds me of Hakeem Olajuwon during the NBA Championship against the Magic all those years ago, nailing a three in the closing moments of the final game.

We’ve won five in a row and remain undefeated at home, folks. Next up, the Mercer Bears on Thursday night down in Macon.

How ‘Bout Them Dawgs!