Gray Bees Hold Off Blair Assault 54-40

BASKETBALL

Senior Arnoldo Toro sunk seven of his 11 free throws.

Othman Muhammad

Senior Arnoldo Toro sunk seven of his 11 free throws.

Othman Muhammad, Assistant Sports Editor

The varsity basketball team’s hefty defense overcame Blair’s bombarding offense in a 54-40 win on Feb. 9.

The first quarter was off to a slow start for the Gray Bees because Blair went on a 6-0 run. After the first six minutes, senior Arnaldo Toro scored the first points for Benedict’s by splitting his free throws. A timeout called by varsity coach Mark Taylor got the team back on track because UDII David Beatty and senior James Scott both scored three pointers. At the end of the first quarter, Blair was up 14-9.

The Gray Bees did not lead until the end of the second quarter. At halftime, the Gray Bees were up 26-22.

In the second half, the Gray Bees played strong defense. In the first 12 minutes of the second half, the Gray Bees allowed Blair to score only five points. They closed the third quarter, extending their lead to 36-27.

In the fourth quarter, the Gray Bees continued to play lockdown defense, keeping Blair scoreless for as long as they could. Although Blair began scoring again, they failed to mount a comeback.

Despite not having a good shooting percentage from the field, the team managed to shoot better than 69 percent from free throw range. Arnaldo excelled at the free throw line, sinking seven out of 11 attempts.

Defensively, David had a stellar performance: five rebounds, three steals and two blocks. He tied second in scoring, but finished with the most field goals.