Box Score
Box Score
The Sewanee men's basketball team took to the court Tuesday night to take on the Flames of Free Will Baptist College for the second time this season. And while the Tigers walked away with wins after both meetings, Tuesday's contest saw a completely dominant performance by Sewanee, who grabbed a 43-point, 87-44 victory. Sewanee won the first meeting of the season 69-59 in Nashville. Every Tiger found the scoring column, with six finishing in double-figures, as Sewanee improved to 9-15 on the season with the non-conference win.
Sewanee dominated from the very beginning, jumping out to a 18-2 lead early on. Trent Williams (Lawrenceburg, Tenn., Lawrence County High School) opened the scoring for the Tigers with a lay up in the paint nearly two minutes in and Valentino Bryant (Hendersonville, Tenn., Beech) quickly followed with a 3-pointer to give Sewanee a 5-0 lead. Free Will finally got on the board exactly three minutes into the game when Kendred Sides picked up a jumper to make it 5-2, which was as close as the Flames would get for the remainder of the contest.
After Sides' basket, Sewanee scored 13 straight to push their early lead out to 16, 18-2. During the stretch the hosts got eight straight points from Anvil Nelson (Brentwood, Tenn., Brentwood), a basket from Lewis Affronti (Virginia Beach, Va., Norfolk Academy) and another trey from Bryant to extend their lead. Free Will finally interrupted the attack when Adam Gardner knocked down a short jumper in the paint to make it 18-4 Sewanee. After Gardner's basket, the two squads traded baskets before Sewanee hit four straight to make the difference 21, 31-10.
After Sewanee pushed the gap to 21, the two teams continued to trade baskets for the rest of the half. With 2:44 left, Tyler Brown (Goodlettsville, Tenn., Beech) hit one of two free throws to give the Tigers their largest lead of the first half at 22, 39-17. Free Will got a 3-pointer from Jabbar Grayson to make it 39-20, but Bryan Beviacqua (Gulf Shores, Ala., Gulf Shores) hit a jumper of his own for Sewanee to push the Tiger lead back to 21. Free Will closed out the first half with a basket by Chris Davenport and Sewanee headed into the locker room owning a 19-point lead, 41-22.
Sewanee wasted no time finding the basket in the second half. Just 15 seconds into the frame, Affronti hit one of two at the line to put Sewanee ahead 42-22. Trent Williams got a jumper for the hosts 29 seconds later to make the Tiger lead 22. Following Williams' basket, the two teams traded baskets back and forth for several minutes.
After finding themselves up 21, 51-30, at the 14:46 mark, Sewanee used a huge 16-0 run spanning nearly five minutes to take a massive 40-point lead. During the stretch, Brown scored 10 of his 13 points, including a pair of 3-pointers sandwiched around a jumper by Beviacqua. Sam Martin (Ringgold, Ga., Lakeview-Ft. Oglethorpe) also poured in five points in the stretch, including a dunk from the middle of the lane, to help Sewanee take a 70-30 lead.
Free Will was able to slow the Tiger attack when they got back-to-back baskets by Marcus Farrow and Stephen Nelson. The Tigers weren't slowed for long though, as they managed to push their lead to 43, 79-36, after Williams scored five straight points and Nelson and Brown both got lay ups in the paint. Sewanee attacked inside all night, outscoring the Flames 40-4 in the paint over the course of the evening.
After Sewanee stretched the difference to 43, 79-36, with 4:47 left to play, both teams dropped in eight points over the final minutes to make the final score 87-44 in favor of the Tigers.
Martin led the pack of six Tigers who finished in double-figures, scoring 15 points on 7 of 12 shooting and grabbing six rebounds and two blocks. Brown followed with a double-double, grabbing 10 rebounds while dropping in 13 points for the winners. He finished with four steals and three assists.
Affronti and Nelson each finished with 12 points, while Affronti dished out three assists and Nelson grabbed five boards. Williams added 11 points on 5 of 6 shooting and Beviacqua chipped in 10 points and five rebounds. Bryant finished with six points, while Brett Bouldin (Crossville, Ala., Crossville) and Hudson Duncan (Houston, Texas, St. John's ) each added three points. Will Merrell (Charlotte, N.C., Cannon School) rounded out the Tiger attack with two points.
As a team, the Tigers finished the night 37 of 71 from the field, good enough for a 52.1% shooting percentage for the evening. They went 9 of 23 from the 3-point line (39.1%).
Jabbar Grayson led the Flames with 11 points, while Stephen Nelson and Kendred Sides each added six. Free Will finished the evening 17 of 49 from the field (34.7%), 3 of 18 from beyond the arc (16.7%), and 7 of 14 from the free throw line.
Sewanee dominated the boards, out-rebounding the Flames 40-28 in the contest. The Tigers turned the ball over just seven times in the contest, while forcing the Flames into 22 turnovers. Sewanee turned Free Will's 22 giveaways into 27 points throughout the contest.
The Tigers will be back in action on Saturday when they host Oglethorpe University in their final regular season contest of the year. Sewanee is set to tip off against the SCAC foe Stormy Petrels at 6 p.m.
