BRIDGEWATER -- Duxbury used their length to their advantage when they faced Oliver Ames Monday night for the Lehmann Tournament championship at Bridgewater State University.
A key height advantage and a stellar performance by senior captain Curtis Owen helped the Dragons take home the hardware with a 68-55 win. Owen scored a game-high 28 points to lead the way for Duxbury.
“I thought we played real tough,” Oliver Ames head coach Don Byron said. “Certain matchups are tough for us just because we are not big to begin with. Duxbury is big at all positions.”
The loss closed out the regular season for Oliver Ames, as they finished with a 12-8 record.
However, bigger things await the Tigers as they get set to play in the MIAA state tournament.
“Matchups are huge for anybody, but especially for us,” Bryon said about the upcoming tournament. “As tough as the Hockomock league was, it wasn’t a league with a lot of size this year. We can do some things because I think we are battle tested by virtue of the league.”
The game didn’t start the way Oliver Ames had hoped, as a 12-0 run put Duxbury ahead early. The Tigers finally put points on the scoreboard with three minutes remaining in the quarter.
OA tried to cut into the deficit in the second quarter, but costly turnovers had them down 31-24 at halftime.
“As we came into halftime, I thought we were looking over our shoulder thinking who is going to block this one next,” Byron said. “It took us awhile to get the offensive kinks out.”
OA came out with strong defensively, and went on a 14-4 run to begin the third quarter.
“I thought we did a good job on the defensive end,” Byron said of the team’s play during the run. “We thought we were going to have to jump in and out of some certain things, change defenses and keep people off balance. When we started to man them up, we turned the momentum a little bit.”
Oliver Ames guard St. Clair Ryan scored eight of his 12 points in the third quarter contributing to the key run. Ryan added seven rebounds as well.
“When we started to up the pressure, [Ryan] was the kid out leading the break,” Byron said. “He had a couple of big and-ones, momentum type things, things that brought people off the bench and got the crowd into it on our side.”
OA held a 44-43 lead going into the final eight minutes of play, but the Tiger offense stalled just long enough for Duxbury to pull ahead.
The Dragons went on a 10-0 run midway through the fourth quarter that put the game out of reach.
Duxbury closed out the game with clutch free throw shooting, going 18-for-20 from the free throw line in the quarter.
OA senior guard Nick Bruha led the way for the Tigers in the loss, scoring a team high 15 points.
“[Bruha] tends to come out in big games,” Byron said. “He has had a terrific year, especially done the stretch when things are on the line.”
OA will find out their opponent for the MIAA state tournament on Friday, when the tournament pairings are released.