Photo by Shayaan Sayeed | Opinion Editor

The Red Wolves showed out for the crowd in their home opener on Saturday, beating the Christian Brothers Buccaneers 95-67. The team showed that they had improved from their nail-biter against the Missouri State Bears last week in this all-around dominant performance. 

Starting off the first half cold from mid-range and the perimeter, the Red Wolves found themselves down after the first five minutes of the game. Once they realized the shots were not falling, they found their key to success soon after. The Buccaneers were able to defend the opposing shots, but this left the Red Wolves with plenty of opportunities to crash the paint. The backcourt let up on their perimeter shooting and gave way for the frontcourt to punish the lax defense underneath the basket. 

Their effort in the paint wasn’t just shown on the scoreboard though. The Red Wolves led the Buccaneers in offensive and total rebounds at the end of the first half, capitalizing on each loose ball they could get their hands on. 

As the points poured in from the paint, the confidence began to grow farther from the basket. The rhythm from their interior presence gave them more freedom to try to get a groove going from outside. Even if these shots weren’t falling, the team could fall back onto their big men down low to get themselves back into the game. 

The two forwards who really stood out in this bully offense of the first half for the Red Wolves were Jaxon Ellingsworth and Chudi Dioramma, with both finishing the game with 20 and 12 points respectively. Ellingsworth was the most efficient scorer with a 90% field goal percentage, but also made his impact known on the glass with a team high 7 rebounds. On the opposite side, guard Iman Kheirati kept the Buccaneers’ offense afloat, ending up with a double-double of 15 points and 10 rebounds at the final buzzer.

This first half for the Red Wolves was a complete 180 from the performance against Mo State as they showed a new sense of adaptability on offense. When the shots weren’t going down efficiently from one area, the team was able to find new ways to attack and score to keep from stagnating for too long. 

For the second half, the Red Wolves’ formula stayed the same for the most part, but with more success coming from the perimeter. After a dismal 1-10 shooting performance from beyond the arc in the first, the team went 6-14 in the second half to keep pushing the pace in the blowout.

The other major difference was the scoring distribution between the team. Only Ellingsworth was in double figures in the first half, but the game ended with 5 other Red Wolves joining him. 

It was a balanced attack compared to the Buccaneers’ offensive showing from Kheirati and guard Marquis Gill, who led the Buccaneers in scoring with 16 of his 20 points coming from this half and adding 3 assists on offense. 

Guards Matt Hayman had a bounce back game from his lackluster performance from Mo State last week. Hayman improved his offense with 15 points and 5 assists, and contributed to the defensive effort with 2 steals. Guard Royal Blue “Royal Blue” Smith also had himself a breakout game, putting up 13 points and grabbing a team high 4 offensive rebounds from the bench.

The Red Wolves will hope to continue their win streak going with their upcoming game at Southern Methodist University this Friday.

Categories: Sports