On Feb. 26, our Varsity LMU Gators played a game against the Eleanor Roosevelt HS Huskies in The Barclays Center. The result was a dominant performance from the Gators, winning 70-41. 

After the Gators won the opening tipoff, they were off to the races. Guard Ben Steinfink scored LMU’s first basket, and proceeded to record 5 of LMU’s first 7 points. From there, LMU torched the Huskies’ defense with an onslaught of scoring, bringing scoring threats from all angles. This allowed the Gators to rack up points, properly utilizing their dynamic offense to spread the defense thin and find (and convert on) open looks. 

And yet, none of that would have been possible if not for LMU’s big men. Bodee Bacal, Ryan Paer, and Arlo Dobbie dominated the paint on both ends of the court. On offense, they aggressively crashed the boards and grabbed rebound after rebound, generating a substantial amount of second-chance points. Multiple open 3-pointers from Steinfink, Kai Smith, and Ravi Vietro came as a result of offensive rebounds. On defense, their height and length stifled any Huskie

who dared to step foot in the painted area. They racked up blocks, and rebounds, and heavily contested any shot that, by some miracle, managed to slightly bypass their defenses. 

In a nutshell, LMU controlled every aspect of this game. The Gators got out to a 12-2 run in the first 4 minutes of the game, building on that immensely despite the referees not being on their side. By halftime, LMU was up 35-12 and the game was pretty much over. 

The Gators played aggressively in every way you could imagine. Guards fought over screens instead of slipping under them, maintaining a stifling hold on the ball handler, and the overall size advantage left a brick wall inside the 3-point line that the Huskies could not break through. This tenacious defense led to the Gators getting steals and kickstarting fast breaks, ending in easy scores. That smooth transition from defense to offense, combined with excellent ball movement from LMU, gave them a controlling lead and allowed them to build on it. 

If the Gators can replicate their performance against ERHS throughout the season, they’ll tower over every other team, both in-game, and in the standings.