Coach Thomas shook up the starting lineup inserting Brody Darin at point guard. The Dons jumped all over the Falcons early as Sam Bishop took advantage of a soft zone defense and opened the game with a fourteen point personal barrage including four three’s and a steal that turned into a fast break layup. The Falcons clawed their way back on second chance points as the Dons held a 14-9 advantage at the end of the period.
Braedon Christie and Maddox Malm took the baton from Bishop and carried the scoring load in the second. Christie scored the first nine points off a bucket in the lane, a strong drive in traffic and-1, two free throws, and a nice dish from Malm for an easy layup. Malm then continued the three point assault hitting two back to back three’s extending the lead to 29-12. Bishop hit Christie for another layup and Malm added his third three of the quarter as the Dons were rolling with a 35-16 lead at half.
The second half was fairly anti-climatic as the pace slowed down and both teams struggled to score. Justin Tan hit a nice corner three to break the seal. Miles Blackhart added a nice runner towards the end of the quarter and the Dons held a 41-26 advantage.
Coach Thomas put the starters back in to finish things off but the Falcons kept scrapping, getting the lead down to thirteen at one point 43-30 with five minutes to go. However, the Dons quickly put the nail in the coffin on a Christie drive, back to back Darin three’s, and two Jonah Orlando free throws that put us up 53-32. The final score ended up being 53-36.
The Dons were led by 17 points from Christie, 14 from Bishop and 9 from Malm. For the Falcons, #11 finished with 10 points and #33 added 8. The Dons outscored College Park by 21 from three (9-2) and finished 7 of 10 (.700) from the line.
The Dons are now 2-2 in League Play (.500) and 5-7 Overall (.416). Next up we return home to face a tough De La Salle Spartan squad on Saturday, January 22nd at 4:30pm. We have another big test on Monday, January 24th as we travel to Clayton Valley Charter School for a 4:00pm start. GO DONS!!!!