Bryant's 29 lead Batavia over DeKalb
Just when Saturday's game with DeKalb might slip away, up stepped Batavia's David Bryant.
Not once but twice in the final 30 seconds, Bryant ended with steals that thwarted Barbs attacks and the host Bulldogs emerged with a hard-fought 63-58 Western Sun Conference victory.
The second of the two steals was key. Batavia led 61-58 with 10 seconds left when Bryant stepped into a passing lane just outside the 3-point arc. Bryant drove the length of the court and hit a layup as time expired to seal the win.
"I knew they were going to go for a three when I missed the first of those free throws," Bryant said of his 1-for-2 free throwing with 13 seconds to play.
"On the top of the key, I knew there were going to be two guys picking for a guy coming to the top," Bryant continued. "I knew they needed a three and I knew my guy was one of the guys setting a pick. So I just popped out and made the steal."
Batavia (12-6, 6-3) survived a furious DeKalb onslaught down the stretch. The Barbs (12-7, 7-2) had a 10-game winning streak snapped by Batavia. They trailed throughout the second half and were behind by 10 points with 4 minutes left.
"They weren't going to go away," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said. "We knew that."
But they chipped at Batavia's lead without ever putting on a sustained run and showed the poise of a team that defeated the Bulldogs in the first meeting of the teams.
"One of the reasons for (the winning streak) is that we had sustained runs," DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman said. "When they came back, we faltered a bit, which is what we aren't used to doing."
One of the keys came with 1:09 when DeKalb point guard Darius McNeal fouled out. The Barbs had other players trying to thread passes in the final minute.
"We put Matt Lareson in a difficult position because he's our two-man (shooting guard), not our point guard," Rohlman said.
The game spotlighted a battle between two high-scoring stars. DeKalb's Jordan Threloff scored a game-high 31 points, including 12 in the fourth quarter.
Bryant answered for Batavia with 29 points, including five 3-pointers. He had 9 points in the fourth quarter.
"The kids fought tooth and nail," Roberts said. "We were talking with the kids and that's how we're going to have to play."
Batavia is in a stretch where it sees a sequence of teams such as Glenbard South and Geneva, which it lost to in the first time through the Western Sun schedule. The Bulldogs also have a battle with West Aurora coming on Saturday in the annual Night of Hoops extravaganza.
"Hopefully we matured a bit that the game was not decided in the first five or six minutes," Roberts said. "We realize the road ahead of us. We play three conference games in a row against teams that beat us and two are on the road. And then we play West Aurora. Our kids have to come to play every night. From that part, it's pretty simple."