WORCESTER, Mass. - The Dickinson men's basketball team kicked off their 2023-24 campaign on Saturday evening at the Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament inside the Harrington Auditorium on the campus of Worcester Polytechnic Institute. Unfortunately for the Red and White their opponent the St Joseph's College of Maine Monks shot a scalding 52.5% from the field, including an even 50% beyond the arc en route to a 77-56 win.
The Monks jumped out to an early 10-4 lead six minutes in, as
Nate Ogbu and
Skyler Venezia supplied the first offense of the year for Dickinson. Four straight for
Aaron Bailey and a finish in the paint from
Drew Haueisen continued the Devils push as they drew even at 10-10 with 11:17 to go in half number one. The duo of Bailey and Ogbu tallied five of the ensuing nine points to give DC their first lead of the year 15-14, before Ashtyn Abbott, John Paul Frazier, Teagan Hynes and Julian Llopiz embarked on a 12-3 push to collect a 26-18 edge at the 14:24 mark. Points by
Isaiah Edmond,
Anthony Goeb and Haueisen kept the deficit at eight (33-25). After a bucket for Pitia Donato, Bailey went on to tally six of the final ten points of the frame to leave Dickinson down 39-34 at the break, but feeling like momentum was on their side.
Triples by
Brandon Wiercinski and Venezia were the only points for the Devils during a 9-6 start for the Monks to leave the score at 48-40 with five minutes off the clock. Back-to-back triples for Remijo Wani and Hynes upped the lead to 54-40, before a layup from Ogbu appeared to stop the run for a moment. However, another Wani three-ball began a 10-4 romp for St. Joseph's to stretch the advantage out to 64-46 at the 11:50 mark. The Red and White attempted to battle back getting a three for Wiercinski, followed by buckets from Bailey and Haueisen cutting the deficit down to 68-55 inside the five minute mark. A free throw for Haueisen would be the final point for the Devils over the final three minutes as the Monks closed on a 9-1 run to the set the 77-56 final.
Red Devil Leaders
Points - Bailey (17), Ogbu (10), Haueisen (7)
Assists - Venezia (5),
Andrew Gostovich and Ogbu (2)
Rebounds - Goeb (6), Bailey, Ogbu and Wiercinski (5)
Monk Leaders
Points - Hynes (18), Abbott (14), Frazier (10)
Assists - Hynes (6), Abbott (3)
Rebounds - Abbott (8), Donato (6)
Next on the Court
Dickinson (0-1) will return to the Harrington Auditorium tomorrow afternoon for 1pm tipoff against the seventh-ranked Ephs of Williams College in the consolation game of the Ted Coghlin Memorial Tournament. Williams earned their place in the consolation game by falling to the host WPI by a score of 77-62 earlier in the day.
