THE BLUE DEVILS IMPROVED TO 11-1, AFTER THEIR VICTORY (FILE PHOTO)
GENESEO — The Geneseo boys’ basketball team rolled to a 25-point win over the LeRoy Oatkan Knights, 66-41, improving their record to 11-1.
From the start of the game, the Blue Devils were able to apply their pressure defense, holding the Knights scoreless till midway through the first quarter.
The Knights were in the game at half, only trailing by nine, 32-23, but an offensive onslaught from guard Bryan Rollins, who scored a season-high 26 points, helped the Blue Devils to the victory.
Head coach Brian Stout felt the pressure defense was one of the keys to the win.
“We forced a lot of turnovers tonight and our defense was really good tonight,” Stout said. “Our decisions after we got a lot of those steals, not so great, we were over 20 turnovers tonight and that’s definitely too many. We tried to force too many things, but the defense definitely carried us through to this win tonight.”
Rollins also believed the press worked well in stopping the Knights.
“It was great,” Rollins said. “We pressed them real hard and we forced them into traps and turnovers. Mo (Carlon) and I like to get right up on them and try to force them into turnovers.”
Stout also revealed that senior forward Will Kingston could return to the court next week. Kingston has been sidelined all season, after suffering a knee injury during the soccer season.
Offensively, the Blue Devils also received contributions from guard Mo Carlon, who scored 13 points and center Sam Lofquist, who added 10 points.
Rollins also spoke about how having multiple scoring options and other players picking each other up helps the team.
“There’s virtually no pressure on me to play well,” Rollins said. “If I’m not playing well, I’ll reverse it and pass it to Mo (Carlon), pass it to Jim (Root), pass to Cook, pass to Sam (Lofquist), anyone. We can all score.”
Geneseo (11-1) is off until a week from Friday, when they play at Warsaw.