The Blackhawks' offense took a little time to get going against the Pirates, but once they did, they led the entire game from beginning to end, to finish with a 71-30 victory.
Mason Gay and Sam Wells each hit three-pointers to start the scoring for the Hawks, followed by Brett Baehr’s three points on a bucket and one. The Blackhawks jumped out to an early 9-1 lead. The Hawks continued with their defensive pressure as the Pirates cut the lead to 11-6, but Junior guard Colton Paczkowski hit a key three to ignite an offensive run. Brett Baehr scored on back-to-back possessions with Colin Fritz and Dominic Sherwood scoring the next eight points. The Blackhawks built a 31-10 halftime lead.
Fritz started off the second half scoring the first five points including an offensive rebound putback. The Blackhawks offense was a mix of fast breaks, halfcourt offense and offensive rebounding the rest of the way as Mason Gay hit a key bucket. Sherwood helped the cause with six straight points with a key pass from sophomore Preston Fritz on a lob. Fritz would later find fellow backcourt mate Talon Mueller on a nice backdoor cut and hoop. The Blackhawks would go on to outscore the Pirates 40-20 in the second half for the 71-30 victory.
The Blackhawks shot 46% overall for the game while scoring 42 points in the paint.
Box Score: Fritz 19 pts, 8 rebs, 2 stls; Baehr 13 pts, 7 rebs; Sherwood 12 pts, 7 rebs, 3 asts, 2 stls; Wells 8 pts, 2 rebs, 2 asts, 3 stls; Gay 7 pts, 5 rebs, 4 stls; Paczkowski 5 pts, 2 rebs, 2 stls; Mueller 4 pts, 1 reb; Fritz 2 pts, 5 rebs, 5 asts; Carter Lindgren 1 pt, 1 stl.
Coach's Comments
We played a steady game and kept the ball moving as I like our effort on the boards. We had nice balanced scoring and our bench gave us a lift in all areas of the game. We are continuing to round into shape and playing better.