By Mike London
mlondon@salisburypost.com
GRANITE QUARRY ó New East Rowan coach Jim Lankford watched his guys lose to Davie 66-58 on Tuesday and started making dinner reservations for 14 Mustangs.
“Maybe M&K,” Lankford said with a sigh. “Barbecue and potatoes. Both games so far (Davie and Concord) we’ve played against guys with a lot more meat on their bones. We’ve got to get stronger.”
East had the slimmer total on the scoreboard for the second straight game, but not through any lack of sweat.
Swarming Mustangs limited Davie’s springy 6-foot-5 post man Shannon Dillard to 13 points, and veterans Riley Weber and Brian Grohman and newcomer Omar Gittens were aggressive on the glass.
“East was getting a lot of offensive rebounds, and I told Dillard it was going to come down to whether or not he cleaned the glass for us in the fourth quarter,” Davie coach Mike Absher. “He cleaned it. That was the difference.”
Dillard had eight rebounds in the second half. He matched Grohman’s five in the fourth quarter.
East was in excellent position to pull out a back-and-forth game, but it didn’t score after Gittens connected down low with 3:18 remaining to cut Davie’s lead to 59-58.
Dillard’s soaring stickback for a 62-58 lead with 3:06 remaining was the last field goal of the game. Davie (1-2) got its last four points on free throws by Nate Jones and Davis Absher and got 12 second-half points at the stripe.
East shot 5-for-21 in the final quarter, some ill-advised and rushed, and managed just one point at the foul line during that stretch.
“Davie did a better job of attacking and challenging the rim,” Lankford said. “That’s why they got to the foul line a lot more. We’ve got some nice pieces here, kids that can play well. What we have to do now is get five on the same page in the same book.”
East used a spree of nine straight points by guard Cole Honeycutt to take a 19-15 lead after a quarter.
Davie got a spark from muscular guard Jamal Mayfield in the second quarter. His 10-point period pushed Davie ahead 38-31 at halftime.
Weber and Honeycutt hit 3s to help East stay in it in the third quarter, and Davie led 53-47 heading to the fourth.
East got even at 54-54 with 5:40 remaining on Weber’s steal and pass to streaking guard Phillip Ajayi (13 points).
“We felt the game coming to us then, but we couldn’t quite grab it,” Grohman said.
East couldn’t quite grab it largely because Davie’s Denzel Redmon answered with a 3-pointer from the right corner. That clutch shot put Davie ahead to stay, and the War Eagles closed it out at the free-throw line.
East shots banged off the rim the final three minutes, and Dillard was usually on the glass to close the possession.
“We just couldn’t make a shot,” Grohman said.
Lankford praised the play of Gittens and Ajayi, and East got a defensive lift from newcomer Preston Troutman. The shortstop/pitcher/safety/kick returner/receiver practiced for the first time with the team over the weekend.
That means things are generally looking up for the Mustangs despite an 0-2 start.
“We improved a lot from the first game,” Grohman said. “We’ll keep improving. I think we’ll have a good team ó maybe a great team.”
Absher was just thrilled to get out alive. He didn’t want his youngsters ó Davie plays numerous sophomores ó to start the season 0-3.
“It was very important to get this one,” he said. “It was crucial for our guys to see they could close one out.”
davie (66) ó Dillard 13, Mayfield 13, Redmon 10, Jones 8, Absher 6, Neely 5, Key 5, Simmons 3, Whaley 3, Ray, Wilson, Slabach.
east rowan (58) ó Honeycutt 14, Ajayi 13, Grohman 11, O. Gittens 8, Weber 5, H. Gittens 4, Rogers 3, Curlee, Troutman, Joshua, Driver.
Davie 15 13 15 23 ó 66
E. Rowan 16 11 19 12 ó 58