Benedictine men鈥檚 basketball holds its ground against Dominican
RIVER FOREST, Ill. (BVM) — Benedictine University went up against Dominican University on Wednesday, Dec. 1. The Eagles played a victorious game, winning 76-45, but the rivalry between the two teams spans decades.聽
This season the Eagles have won just two out of six games. The Eagles鈥� last win was against DePauw University with a close score of 73-71. Their most recent game was against North Central College with another close match where the Eagles lost, 65-62. Overall, the Eagles still have a chance to turn their season around, especially after this new win.聽
The Stars came into the game with a 1-5 record. Their last win was against Maranatha Baptist University, 77-60. The Stars鈥� lost their most recent game against Principia College, 94-83. Dominican University participated in the Bill Merris Tournament hosted by Illinois College. There, they played against Illinois College and Blackburn College, losing both games.聽
Benedictine and Dominican have played 18 games against each other with the Eagles winning 14 games and the Stars winning four. The two teams usually play close matches against each other.聽
During the first half, both teams played point-for-point. Within about 30 seconds of the game starting, Benedictine’s Marvin Agwomoh scored a two-pointer. Immediately after, Dominican’s Jackson Smith evened the score 30 seconds later by scoring a jump shot.
At around the three-minute mark, Dominican’s Christopher Burel scored a 3-pointer for the team. About a minute later, Michael Johnson scored a two-pointer and capitalized with an and-one. Once again, the score was evened out. The first eight minutes of the game consisted of a close match until Mark Blaszczyk scored four points for the Eagles, putting them in the lead.聽
As the first half progressed, the gap between the two teams deepened with Benedictine leading the game at the half, 39-21.聽
Less than 15 seconds into the second half, Agwomoh scored a point for the Eagles. The point was quickly followed by Johnson scoring two points for the Eagles once again. Three minutes into the half, Robert Taylor scored a two-pointer for the Stars. While the Stars worked hard to catch up to the Eagles, they were unable to do so for the rest of the half.聽
Leading scorers for the Eagles were Nick Kosich with 16 points, Trevor Montiel with 14 points, Agwomoh with 12 points, and Johnson with 11 points. The Stars鈥� highest scoring players were Smith with 18 points, Burel with five points, Jared Bandi with five points, and John Duszynski with three points.聽
Overall, the Eagles managed to stay in the lead for a total of 34 minutes. Additionally, 12 Eagles were able to score points during the match and 17 were able to play.聽
The Eagles, who have had a rocky season so far, have a chance to still turn their season around. Their next game is against Marian University and will be held Saturday, Dec. 4, at 4:15 p.m. CST.
