By By BRIAN HAINES, Sports Writer
The Cougars are headed into the winter break in style as they used a 23-3 run in the second quarter to propel past the New Life Warriors 80-57 on Tuesday.
The win improves Emmanuel Christian’s record to 5-1 and should make the upcoming holiday hiatus a little more happier.
Senior forward Christian Watters’ 28-point performance, coupled with a 23-point effort by point guard Daniel Brantley served as the catalyst for the team’s fifth win of the season.
Watters scored 10 points and Brantley netted seven during the Cougar’s pivotal second quarter run.
The Warriors played even with Emmanuel throughout the first quarter, and headed into the second tied at 14. Taylor White and Michael Odom paced New Life (1-7) as they netted 21 and 20 points, respectively. However, as the game went on the Cougars height advantage and defensive intensity proved to be too much for New Life.
“I think our defense is what picked us up in the second quarter,” Clark said. “We went to a 3-2 (zone) and blocked off their outside shooting. But we mainly just picked up our defense because (New Life) was out-hustling us in the first quarter.”
The Warriors hustle was not enough to make up for the size advantage Emmanuel held in the front court. Sophomore center Andrew Barmer (4 points) had a phenomenal night on the glass, while he and fellow sophomore Josh Chandler’s (12 points) defense translated into several fastbreak opportunities.
“Rebounding is where we do have an advantage on a lot of teams,” Clark said. “I try to get these guys to understand once we get the ball to outlet it and try to use our speed.”
The big guys did there job as they routinely got the ball to Brantley who used his stellar court vision to find his teammates for easy buckets.
“He is a very unselfish player,” Clark said of Brantley. “He has been on the other end of a lot of turnovers as he has grown into the position, but I’m just really proud of him this year.”
The Cougars big second quarter gave them a 37-17 lead at halftime. Their momentum would not be lost during the break.
Emmanuel erupted for 28 points in the third quarter while holding the Warriors to a mere 13 points.
The Cougars hope that momentum will carry over until Jan. 5 when they return to action at home against Garnett.
New Life 14 3 13 27 — 57
Emmanuel 14 23 28 15 — 80
Warriors (57)
Michael Odom 20, Taylor White 21, J. Page 5, Corey Odom 10, Eliason 1.
Cougars (80)
Boyd 5, Daniel Brantley 23, Josh Chandler 12, Christian Watters 28, Barmer 4, Melanson 3, Reusch 4, Collins 2.