By Tom Ignudo
Hitting the outlet pass transitioned to fast break offense, which helped the DCCC Phantoms comfortably seal a 99-59 win over Lehigh Carbon Community College Nov. 7.
Head coach Zain Shaw said nerves hurt them in the first game, but he was impressed with the way his young team responded against LCCC.
“[Fast break offense] is part of what we’re made of,” Shaw said. “Since I’ve been here we want to push the ball. With what we got size wise, it’s all guards. So lets put pressure on the defense. They got to be able to stop us and guard us.”
Out of the break, Sean Havink spotted up and drilled his first of four threes in the game. Then Travis Smith hit back-to-back threes to put the Phantoms ahead 15-4 with 14:47 in the first half. After a 9-0 run, the Phantoms shooting resulted in them leading LCCC 56-30 at halftime.
Smith said the team came out with a bad taste in their mouth and wanted to redeem themselves after last week’s loss to Rowan Gloucester.
“Man, I work these guys,” Shaw said. “We work to be in the best condition that we can possibly be in. I’m begging on our conditioning to outlast any other team in our conference.”
The Phantoms backcourt feasted on the opportunity of facing an LCCC team surrendering 88 points per game this season.
Furthermore, the Phantoms shot 52 percent from three, which is a huge improvement from 19 percent in their previous game against Rowan Gloucester.
Havink said it was great to push the ball and have everything click on offense.
Havink went 7/14 shooting the ball with 19 points, six rebounds, four assists, and a steal.
But he wasn’t the only talented member of the Phantom’s backcourt, who scored in double figures.
Along with Havink, Smith, Elijah Brown, and Khayyir Laws contributed 76 of the Phantoms 99 points.
“It’s going to be important for those guystocarryus,”Shawsaid.“It’sgoingto be all of us or not. It’s not just a one-man
show, and that’s been my motto since I’ve been here. It takes a team to win. And what we have out here, we have enough where everyone can contribute to us winning.”
Brown led the game in scoring with 25 points. He also shot 63 percent from the field. Laws nearly recorded a triple double with 13 points, seven rebounds, and eight assists.
Overall, the Phantoms shot 52.6 percent from the field, and improved their record to 1-1 with a win over LCCC.
Following the win, the Phantoms lost their next game against Bucks County 77- 55.
“We’re just trying to take it one game and practice at a time,” Shaw said. “We don’t get satisfied with one win. We just got to keep on progressing and keep working hard, because every game is not the same. I’m looking forward to growing with these guys because I believe we have something special here this year.”
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