Steven Spieth Scores Career High as Brown Beats Niagara in Home Opener
Brown news release…
Providence, RI – Brown senior forward Steven Spieth (Dallas, TX) flirted with basketball immortality, just missing a triple-double, with a career high 27 points, 10 rebounds and adding a career high nine assists, to lead Brown to an 88-79 win over Niagara Sunday afternoon at the Pizzitola Sports Center.
“I’m happy with today’s win,” said Brown head coach Mike Martin. “We put in a lot of hard work in the off-season and it paid off today with a victory. We did enough defensively and got to the free throw line.”
The Bears went to the free throw line 45 times and converted 35 shots, while Niagara went 16-of-23 from the free throw line as the officials whistled 52 fouls overall.
Spieth did most of his damage from the free throw line, connecting on 19-of-22 shots from the charity stripe. He shot 4-of-9 from the field.
Sophomore forward Obi Okolie (Ajax, Ontario) was the second of five double figure scorers for the Bears with 15 points, while adding five rebounds. Freshman Joshua Howard (Charlotte, NC) all 14 of his points in the opening half and connected 6-of-10 field goals overall.
Bears’ senior guard Tavon Blackmon (Upper Marlboro, MD) had 13 point and two assists, and moved into six place in all-time Brown assists, now with 363 career assists. Sophomore forward Travis Fuller (Encinitas, CA) chipped in with 10 points off the bench, while pulling down a career high seven rebounds.
The Purple Eagles were paced by Kahlil Dukes with 16 points, and Maurice Taylor, who added 12 points.
Neither team led by more than a possession through the first 11 minutes with the score tied, 22-22. Sophomore Chris Sullivan’s (Wilmette, IL) trey gave the Bears a 25-22 lead with 8:04 remaining and Brown built a nine point lead, 31-22, on two free throws by Blackmon with 6:27 left in the half, capping a 9-0 run.
The Purple Eagles cut Brown’s lead to four points, 40-36, with 2:17 left on a layup by Maurice Taylor.
Spieth lifted the Bears to a 42-36 halftime advantage after converting a layup with 1:06 left in the half.
The Bears opened up a 10 point lead, 54-44, following two free throws by Fuller at the 13:54 mark of the second half.
It took just 1:40 for Niagara to cut Brown’s lead to 54-52 with an 8-0 run, capped by a layup by Dwayne Pow.
But that was as close as Niagara could get with Blackmon’s layup with 11:21 remaining giving the Bears a 58-52 lead.
Niagara pulled to within three points, 70-67, with 6:39 left in the game, but a 9-2 Brown run, capped off by a trey by Okolie with 3:27 left on the clock, put the Bears up by 11 points, 79-68, and control of the game.
Brown continues play in the Basketball Hall of Fame Tip-Off Tournament with a match-up against Rhode Island on Wednesday, November 16 in Kingston, Rhode Island. Tip-off is 7:00 pm.
