For The Dialog
WILMINGTON – The 10th-ranked Salesianum basketball team struggled for three quarters in its game Jan. 12 against No. 4 Sanford. The Sals trailed, 37-20, heading into the fourth, and the big student crowd was kept silent by the Warriors’ play. The hosts mounted a spirited comeback effort in the final eight minutes, but it was not enough as the Warriors posted a 50-41 win.
Hassan Perkins was on fire early for the Warriors as he had 18 of those 37 points. The fourth quarter was a different story as the Sals got hot from behind the arc, and their defense forced turnovers. Jack Brown hit back-to-back three-pointers, and then Darnell Vaughan joined the three-point barrage. A 12-0 Salesianum run cut the Warriors’ lead to 37-32.
Sanford answered as Ryan McKeon scored inside, only to be answered by a Brown three. McKeon scored again, but Vaughan countered with a triple to make the score 41-38. The Warriors missed the front end of a one-and-one. but Nnanny Njoku grabbed the offensive board and scored to give the Warriors a 43-38 advantage. Freshmen Rasheen Caulk put in the Sals’ lone two-point field goal of the final stanza.
The Sals forced a turnover and had s few three-point tries to tie it, but the shots just didn’t fall. Perkins hit two free throws, and sophomore sensation Jyare Davis threw down a sensational dunk to give the Warriors a 47-40 lead with 10 seconds left. Sanford would hit three more free throws to leave Broom Street with the victory.
Perkins led the Warriors (3-4) with 20 points, while Davis added nine. They host Tower Hill Tuesday at 5:15 p.m.
The Sals, who were trailing, 26-12, at the half and trailed by as many as 18, got a game-high 21 from Brown, 20 of those in the second half. The Sals (5-4) host archrival St Mark’s on Friday at 7:30 p.m.
