by CUYAHOGA FALLS, Ohio– A slow start offensively made Revere switch gears and tighten up defensively. Once they got more physical than the Black Tigers, they started a slew of runs to close out a first half where the Minutemen held a 26-17 lead.
“I think we started defending better and thought we got a lot of high-percentage shots that we knocked down,” coach Dean Rahas said about his team throughout the first half.
The Black Tigers did a sound job of contesting everything near the rim which the Minutemen were looking to attack from the opening possession. After trailing 14-8 after the first quarter, senior forward Uriah Rodeman flipped the switch that sparked a dominant second quarter.
He went on a personal 8-0 run before the Tigers called a timeout. They trailed 21-14 midway through the second quarter. The Tigers went five and a half minutes before scoring their first and only points of the second quarter when Austin Brickley knocked down a 3-pointer. There was just no answer from the Tigers closing out the first half, as they went into halftime trailing 26-17.
“I really thought we did a good job of bodying them up when they drove. Even going up for rebounds, I thought we did a good of making some contact to throw them off a little bit to secure some rebounds instead of shying away from contact,” Rahas explained. “We got a little more physical in the paint.”
Every time the Tigers would go on a little run themselves in the second half, the Minutemen would answer defensively with players like Uriah Pulliam, Mason Aquino and Massimo Manera all making an impact Tuesday night. The Tigers got within five points early in the third quarter, but the Minutemen would make that the closest they would come to a comeback through the second half.
A 12-point lead heading into the fourth quarter had Rahas comfortable with the way some of his players can make plays both offensively and defensively.
“The nice thing about this team is that we have several guys that are capable of scoring,” Rahas said with a smile on his face.
Rodeman had a game-high 19 points during the win along with 10 points coming from Mason Aquino as well. For the Tigers, Hayden Johnson paced the team with 13 points during the loss.
The win puts the Minutemen at a record of 5-6 and Rahas sees a young team that’s scrappy and playing for each other early on.
“I see our guys fighting and battling. We just have that never-give-up mentality and the guys are feeding off of each other,” Said Rahas. “We just try to focus on what we need to do to be in a position to win.”
