On Friday night, Nichols visited St. Joe's for a league battle in the Monsignor Martin. The game was appealed to me as a good barometer of where both teams were. The Marauders were coming off great showings against Henninger, a top Class AA team from the Syracuse area, and against Canisius, the top ranked school in WNY. Then on Wednesday, St. Joe's grabbed a nice road win at Starpoint. The Vikings were highly regarded entering the season and have shown flashes of brilliance, but struggle to be consistently brilliant. So in a game where I felt Nichols is the better team and wins if they play to its capabilities, but St. Joe's is more than capable of beating them or anybody else, the end result satisfying. I watched a great effort from both teams, that translated into well-played and competitive basketball game, in an excellent Friday night atmosphere thanks to the boisterous Rowdies turning out in numbers in beach attire to support their squad.
Nichols got 17 points apiece from Tanner Schmit and Cam Lewis, and an inspired team effort defensively, to gain the lead from St. Joe's and then close out the Marauders in a 52-46 win. The win was the first MMA victory for the Vikings in three trys this season, while St. Joe's slips to 2-2 in league.
For the first 13 minutes of the game, the teams traded leads and momentum. The Vikings, who came out in man, switched to a 2-3 zone, and it immediately changed the flow of the game. Trailing 19-17 in the second quarter, Nichols finished the first half on a 12-2 run to take a 29-21 halftime lead.
The closest the Marauders were able to get in the third quarter was within five points, when Jack Scaglione hit a 3-pointer to end the quarter, making it 38-33. St. Joe's got to within three of the Vikings twice in the final quarter, but the second time they got close, Chris Miner and Schmit combined for six unanswered points in one minute, putting Nichols back up by nine, a deficit the Marauders never recovered from.
"They were a relentless team", Nichols head coach John Reinholz said. "I was really impressed with how they played tonight".
"I thought our zone was really good tonight because we were closing out on shooters, so we made some of those shots they were taking a little bit tougher", Reinholz said. "That was a priority - if we go to zone, we've got to close out and get a high hand in their face. I thought that was one area of the game where we really looked good defensively".
"Our kids fought to keep the lead", said Reinholz. "We kept that intensity the whole second half, I think that's been something that's plagued us the first half of the season. We get a lead and take our foot off the gas. Tonight, I saw senior leadership from Cam Lewis and Chris Miner".
Miner finished with 11 points for Nichols.
Scaglione registered 17 points for the Marauders, while Marcell Davis added 10 points.
-centercourt
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