LEXINGTON — Sunday afternoon played out like the three previous games Davidson County Community College has competed in so far this season. The Storm built a big lead, scored a plethora of points and had way more athleticism than its opponent.

When the final horn sounded on the Sunday matinee at Brinkley Gym, DCCC sent the Montreat College junior varsity back down the road with a decisive loss in a 105-62 rout. It was the third time Davidson has reached the century mark, placing four players in double figures. Maurice Nash led the way with 24, while Justin Glover tossed in 20. Darius McKnight drained four 3s on his way to 19 points and Deon Boyce had 12.

Defense was the key, swarming around the Cavaliers to create turnovers that led to 31 points.

“We forced them into 29 turnovers which obviously produced some offense for us,” said head coach Matt Ridge. “I am also really pleased that we had 26 assists and only 10 turnovers.”

Montreat kept pace for much of the first half thanks to 11 early points by Stuart Foster (21 points), but two big runs by the Storm over the final seven minutes sent a 13-point game out to a 23-point halftime lead.

Up 35-22, DCCC got eight points from four different players for a 43-22 lead. The hand behind the production was point guard Chad Taylor, who dished out three assists during the run.

“Chad had eight assists and one turnover, and that is outstanding,” Ridge said. “He is a prototypical-type point guard that makes everyone better, and I am glad that he plays for us.”

A Foster basket and free throw interrupted the run, but another was not far behind. McKnight made a free throw to start a 7-0 spurt and driving runner in the lane to end it, while Nash had two buckets sandwiched in between. Just like that it was a 25-point lead that DCCC would stretch out in the second half.

Davidson started the second half on an 11-3 run to lead 64-33, then really brought the hammer down over a 3-minute stretch that saw DCCC reel off 15-unanswered points.

Nash buried two free throws, then McKnight hit two 3s with Taylor adding another. Boyce got in on the action with a hoop in the post, then Nash capped it with a flush on an alley-OOP pass from Taylor, making it a 79-38 game with over 11 minutes still to be played.

The Storm would hold its largest lead at 97-49 with 6:35 to go on a Christian Lawrence trey from the top of the key.

“We have so many guys that can score and on a lot of nights it will be somebody different,” Ridge said.

Despite the 4-0 start in four blowouts, Ridge sees where plenty of work is left to be done. To be a championship-caliber team, he knows they must be sharp in all aspects of the game.

“We are doing some things defensively I am not pleased with so we have a long way to go,” he said. “Every day we are just trying to get a little bit better. Like I have said before, this is a marathon and not a sprint.

DCCC travels to play the Mount Olive College junior varsity on Wednesday.

Sports Editor Zach Kepley can be reached at 888-3631, or kepley@tvilletimes.com.


Read more: Thomasville Times - DCCC hammers Cavs 105 62