Eric Saucier and the Orioles have heard plenty about why they shouldn’t win this season; now, it appears, they’ve heard enough.
“I told these guys: ‘No more excuses,’” Saucier said. “Everybody’s saying ‘Oh, you’re young’ — none of that. We’re all varsity players, we’re all on the same team, we’ve got to find a way to win.”
That’s just what Conant did on Friday night, when they hosted Mascoma. On paper, both teams were in similar places; each was 1-2 but capable of more, and each boasted a scintillating senior guard who can fill it up, in Conant’s James Record (21 ppg, 4th in DIII) and Mascoma’s Alex Schwarz (25 ppg, 2nd in DIII). From the outset, the Orioles wanted to shut down Schwarz.
“You gotta focus on Schwarz – he’s legit,” Saucier said. “He’s the best player we’ve seen in the division so far. That crossover, and he’s got a jumper, he’s a tough kid.”
Schwarz got up to 21 points, but 11 of those were in the fourth quarter, when Conant had a comfortable lead, and his barrage wasn’t enough to stop the Orioles from pulling out a 54-42 win.
“We wanted to play good defense, come out and set the tone defensively, and I think we did,” Saucier said. “We’re getting better defensively and we need to. We’re not as offensively talented as we have been in the past so we have to make sure our defense is that much better.”
Record was held to just seven himself, but the Orioles picked up the slack, as senior Drew Marro scored 17 on four threes and junior Ryan Smith put in another 12.
Conant (2-2) will have to up their game yet again tonight, as they travel to Stevens (4-1) at 7 p.m.