Blazers get shot down at home

JAN. 14, NELSON H. KOBREN MEMORIAL GYMNASIUM

Richard Montgomery started out on fire tonight and never looked back, the Rockets' three-point shooting put Blair in an early hole that they were never able to recover from, ending the game at 70-58 Richard Montgomery. Where the Blazers have one or two sharpshooters that can occasionally chip in from long range, the whole Rockets squad seemed to be sinking threes all night. Even when Blair was able to get the lead down to as little as three, the Blazers could not seem to get enough momentum to wrest control of the match from the Rockets, who would shut down any potential comeback with a flurry of long-range points.

Despite serious contributions from key Blair players, like workhorse senior swingman Kenan Myers, who ended the game with 18 points, the Rockets defense stifled the Blazer offense all night. Richard Montgomery played solid team basketball all night, distributing the ball around the perimeter and keeping up a quicksilver transition game. Blair, on the other hand, kept up the errant passing that has plagued them all season, and perhaps looked even worse tonight.

The Blazers had a few re-energized moments, but could never capitalize on any gain in momentum. Midway through the second quarter senior guard Makonnen Brown replaced senior Jason Merryman, who had been promoted to the starting job but did not do much with it, and connected with Myers for some quick back door points. Sophomore Marquis Tyler, the only Blazer consistently able to sink treys, used his sharp-shooting talents to bring some energy in the second half and helped Blair cut the lead down to three. But any time Blair got close, it just looked like the Rockets had gotten sloppy for a second; after which they shook it off, sunk a few threes and pushed the lead back up to double digits, all without breaking a sweat.

The rest of the season does not bode well for the Blazers if they keep this style of play up, their schedule only gets rougher as divisional play continues. The Blazers' next game is at home against Damascus on Jan. 21 at 7:00 p.m.