The window was brief, but after allowing Charlottesville to score the game’s first seven points and hold on to that lead going into the second, William Monroe looked like it was ready to give the Black Knights a game. Getting as close as two points within the lead, the Dragons’ offense was finally executing against a lightning quick and aggressive Charlottesville defense. The Black Knights didn’t allow the visitors to get any closer than that. With Damarcus Scott and Taquan Wicks firing on all cylinders, Charlottesville went on a tear to finish up the second quarter and never wobbled in the third or fourth as it cruised to a 61-38 win in its season opener.
“Everyone contributed here and there tonight,” said Black Knights coach Mitch Minor.
After Monroe got to within two, Charlotesville scored the game’s next 10 points with its bench as Wicks, Jamar Lewis and Damien Miliner provided a spark on offense.
“We didn’t do a great job of running the offense the way we’re supposed to, we were just jacking it up after the first pass,” Minor said. “I thought those guys did a great job of coming out and getting things going. They were aggressive on defense too and picked the pace up.”
The subsitution immediately drew a turnover as Lewis forced a five second call, and Wick’s tenacity down low sparked Charlottesville’s transition game.
“Coach pulled me aside and said “Wicks, I need you to get in there and get some rebounds and play some D,” Wicks said. “That’s my job.”
Scott and the starters took notice. He, Daquan Jones and Darius Watson all found a way to knock down their shots or get rebounds and convert on second changes to turn the 12-point lead into 19 at the break.
“It was all about boxing out and not just standing there watching when you can do something,” Scott said. “I think we won this game mostly because of the rebounding there.”
In the second half Monroe was able to stop the bleeding, but it never found a run to pull itself back into the contest despite winning the third quarter 13-11.
“I thought we played nervous, played timid,” said Dragons coach Mike Maynard. “It’s just basketball. We shied away from contact. We’ve got to do a better job on the glass, but we just could not put it in the basket. We did not execute anything at all on offense.”
Scott led the Black Knights offense with 13 points. Wicks added 11 points to go with his six rebounds. Watson scored seven points. Jones led his team in rebounds with eight and also scored six points.
For Monroe, JoJo Krinitsky was the top scorer with eight points. Teammate Gary Morris contributed seven.
The Dragons (1-1) stay on the road with their next game at Monticello on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.
Charlottesville (1-0) has two weeks off before resuming play with a home game against Tandem Friends on December 16 at 7:30 p.m.
