St. Andrews dominates Morris in opener with help of energetic crowd

Nov. 2—LAURINBURG — A fan frenzy broke out at Harris Court Wednesday night.

Only standing room was available for the St. Andrews Knights men's basketball team's nonconference opener against the Morris Hornets, with the large crowd playing a sizeable role in the Knights' performance on the court and helping them lead for all but two minutes and get to the century mark in a 100-80 win.

"Our sixth man was the crowd," St. Andrews head coach Randy Hernandez said. "Family and friends came, and the school showed up. It's a huge support. I can't ask for anything else. They did a great job. The energy was there, and the guys fed off of it."

St. Andrews (1-0) shot 41 of 85 (48.2%) from the field in the victory and outrebounded Morris (0-2) 45-33.

"I'm just glad that we were able to get the win because you just never know," Hernandez said. "Morris is very athletic. They've got some good scorers. They played tough."

The Knights earned one of their four wins from last season against the Hornets in an 80-65 result in Sumter, SC.

"It was extremely imperative that we got the first one off," St. Andrews guard Garrett McRae said. "This is going to be a jump start. I'm really excited."

Forward Quentin Hodge scored eight of Morris' first 10 points to help give them a 10-8 lead just under two minutes into the game. Guard Seth Smith knocked down his second triple to put the Knights ahead 11-10, and McRae extended it to 13-10 with a layup before Hodge made two free throws to make it a two-point game. The Knights had consecutive dunks from forwards Allan Taylor and Quwan Barnes, though, to push their lead back up to 17-12.

Guard Mac Washington's free throws brought Morris back to within three points before a layup by guard Xzavier McFadden made it 19-14. After a layup by center William Swinson, forward Jalen McAfee-Marion put in a layup before lacing a trey, making the St. Andrews advantage 24-16.

Hernandez said his players' experience played a huge part in building a big lead early.

"I think these guys understood the task," Hernandez said. "Maturity always helps. And when everybody's having fun, it makes it better. Guys have been practicing hard. Guys are doing what they're supposed to do. It makes it a lot easier."

St. Andrews' lead dwindled shortly after that, however. With 11:19 left till halftime, guard Marquez Terry hit a 3-pointer to make Morris' deficit two points at 29-27 after the Hornets had scored eight of the previous 10 points.

The Knights quickly took off from there, though, to lead 41-27 with 7:17 to go in the first half, thanks to a 12-0 run. St. Andrews outscored Morris 13-10 the remainder of the half to lead 54-37.

The Knights went up by 23 points nearly a minute-and-a-half into the second half when Taylor made a layup to make it 60-37. After remaining ahead by 15 or more points for almost the next seven minutes, St. Andrews had their lead cut to 12 at 73-61 on a 3-ball from Terry.

Hernandez called a timeout immediately afterward and told his team to refocus.

"We were looking (to put on a) show for no reason," Hernandez said. "We watched film; we knew what we had to do. And we just got out of it for a little bit. And that was disappointing. We have to fix that up. Any other team, or Morris themselves, could have destroyed us if we played like that versus a team that could score at a high level."

The Hornets didn't threaten any closer after that as the Knights went back up 84-64 with 6:54 remaining and hit 100 points with 29 seconds to go on a trey by forward Mateu Escamilla.

"We understood the assignment," McRae said. "And we know we've got a lot of talented guys on this team. I'm extremely excited about that. I love playing with these guys, and we all just played cohesively. We knew what the goal was. We've got to come out, season opener; you want to get the win always. So, it was nice for that to finally happen."

Smith led all Knights players with 16 points and also had three steals; McRae had 14 points; Barnes had a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds; McFadden had 13 points and five rebounds, assists, and steals; McAfee-Marion had 13 points and four boards off the bench; and Taylor had 12 points and seven rebounds.

Guard Antonio Vaught had a game-high 20 points off the bench for Morris; Washington had 17 points and three rebounds; Hodge had 12 points and nine boards; and Terry had 11 points and five rebounds.

Morris finished the game shooting 26 of 61 (42.6%) from the floor, was 10 of 30 (33.3%) from 3-point range, and was 18 of 23 (78.3%) from the free throw line.

St. Andrews shot 8 of 22 on 3s, 10 of 15 (66:7 %) on free throws, and turned the ball over nine times.

Asked what he would say his players could improve on from this performance, Hernandez said "free throws and turnovers."

"We were pressing," Hernandez said. "I'll have to look at film and see what happens. I'm just glad that the women and the men got the win today, and hopefully, we can just keep going one game at a time and proceed with a nice season."

St. Andrews plays at National Christian Collegiate Athletic Association member Regent on Friday.