Norfolk Reporter

Dean Ends First Semester with 80-66 GNAC Win over Johnson & Wales

The Dean College men's basketball team had six players score in double figures and account for all the team's points in Saturday's 80-66 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) victory over Johnson & Wales.

Dean (7-3, 2-1 GNAC) picked up their first win over the Wildcats in three all-time meetings. JWU earned a pair of 10-point victories last season. The Bulldogs return from break on Jan. 3 to host GNAC foe Norwich at 3 p.m. Johnson & Wales (1-4, 1-2 GNAC) steps out of conference on Monday to play an 8 p.m. game at Connecticut College.

Junior AJ Weston (Kansas City, Mo.) scored a game-high 18 to lead the Bulldogs, who have won six of the last seven games. Junior Malik Spearman (St. Paul, Minn.) posted his third double-double of the season with 15 points and 13 rebounds to go with four assists and four steals. Senior Mark Blair (Rosedale, N.Y.) also had a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds. Junior Jayden Madise (Palmdale, Calif.) scored 13 points, while junior Charles Walker (Princeton, N.C.) added 11 off the bench. Junior Jakobi Greenleaf (Houston, Texas) finished with 10 points and nine boards.

JWU received 17 points from senior Aireus Raspberry (Cranston, R.I.). Sophomore Josh Zangerle (Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) put in 13 points, while freshman Izaiah Shaw-Glen (Baldwin, N.Y.) added 12 off the bench. Bryan Davis (Miramar, Fla.) recorded a double-double of 10 points and 13 rebounds.

The first half featured seven lead changes and three ties. With the score tied at 28-28, Dean went on a 10-2 run with contributions from four players, to take a 38-30 lead with less than two minutes to play in the half. JWU finished the frame with a trey from Zangerle and a bucket from Davis to cut the Dean lead to 38-35 at the break. Weston had 11 for Dean, while Raspberry and Zangerle each scored nine for the Wildcats.

JWU scored the first bucket of the second half to get within a point, but that would be as close as they would get. Dean slowly built a lead and held a double-digit advantage for much of the second half thanks to 55.2% shooting and 26 points in the paint. The lead ballooned to 15 with 3:35 to play as the Bulldogs cruised down the stretch to the 80-66 victory.

Dean finished with a 42-36 edge in rebounding. The Bulldogs shot 47.6% (30-63) from the floor and 15-of-23 from the free throw line. JWU was 29-of-67 (43.3%) from the field and 4-of-12 from the charity stripe. 

Original source can be found here