By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN -- By the time the Brandywine varsity basketball team recovered from a three-minute scoring drought in the third quarter, things had gotten out of hand and No. 9 Buchanan held on for a 70-58 Lakeland Conference victory.
Brandywine (4-7, 2-5), which was trying to extend its two-game winning streak, held its own against the Bucks in the first half and trailed by only seven, 35-28, at halftime.
Buchanan (9-1, 6-1), which lost for the first time this season Friday night against Coloma, struggled to put the Bobcats away with its trademark pressure defense.
The third quarter was the only time when Buchanan looked like it might pull away for good as it outscored Brandywine 18-7, including a stretch of 2:51 in which the Bobcats did not score.
Buchanan also executed two alley-oop passes for Tony Robinson dunks in the second half, but still could not finish off the Bobcats.
Robinson's first dunk put the Bucks ahead by 20 points with 1:04 left in the third quarter. That lead quickly dwindled to 13 points as Brandywine started the fourth quarter on a 13-8 run.
Following Robinson's second dunk the Bobcats scored four straight points to chop the led to 12 with 1:30 left in the game. Time ran out for Brandywine as Gordon Bryant put the final nail in the Bobcats' coffin with a 3-pointer with 1:17 to go.
Brandywine committed 10 turnovers in the first half, but managed to keep the game within reach.
The Bobcats exploited one of the weaknesses in Buchanan's defense on several occasions by throwing a long inbounds pass over the Bucks for easy layups. Andy Low, who led all scorers with 21 points, scored several times on that play.
Brandywine's zone defense caused problems for Buchanan when it wasn't scoring transition baskets.
Attacking a zone defense has been an ongoing problem for the Bucks, according to McBeth.
Bryant led Buchanan with 14 points and seven rebounds. Robinson added 12 points and seven rebounds while Zach Bonham chipped in with 10 points.
Mike Beauchamp scored 10 points in addition to Low's 21 for the Bobcats.
Buchanan hosts Berrien Springs Friday night while Brandywine hosts Cassopolis, both Lakeland Conference games.
The Buchanan junior varsity team beat Brandywine 66-45. P.J. Pollock led the Bucks with 25 points. Adam Prescott paced Brandywine with 13.
The Brandywine freshmen team beat Buchanan with a 16-point effort from Cody Smith.
Buchanan……70
Brandywine….58
Buchanan: Quinton Buish 1 2-2 4, Tony Robinson 6 0-0 12, Zach Bonham 4 2-2 10, Brian Shannon 2 0-0 5, Gordon Bryant 6 0-0 14, DuJuan Bennett 2 0-0 4, Brandon Kyles 1 0-0 3, Jordan Lee 4 0-0 8, Rodney Tembo 0 0-0 0, Kyle Tracey 0 0-0 0, Jacob Brown 1 1-2 3, Jared Rusher 1 0-0 2, Karl Schmidt 1 2-4 4, Raylin Hinds 0 1-2 1. Totals: 29 8-12 70
Brandywine: Casey Udell 3 0-0 9, Gene McDonald 4 0-0 8, Mike Beauchamp 3 4-4 10, Andy Low 9 1-2 21, Matt Weiger 1 0-0 2, Justin Sobecki 1 2-2 4, Danny Rauch 0 0-0 0, Chris Carpenter 0 0-0 0, Alex Newman 1 0-0 2, Zach Bennett 0 2-2 2. Totals: 22 9-10 58
Buchanan 22 13 18 17--70
Brandywine 14 14 7 23--58
3-point shooting: Buchanan 4 (Bryant 2, Shannon, Kyles), Brandywine 5 (Udell 3, Low 2). Team fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 11 (none), Brandywine 12 (Sobecki). Team records: Buchanan 9-1 (6-1 Lakeland), Brandywine 4-7 (2-5)