LISBON – Saturday night’s game against winless Monmouth meant nothing to Lisbon in terms of the Heal Point standings, but with a need to pick up some momentum heading into their toughest stretch of the season, the Greyhounds were leaving nothing to chance.
Lisbon fed Levi Ervin in the post early and often and the junior forward took care of the the rest, scoring the Greyhounds’ first 12 points as they jumped out to a big early lead and cruised to a 55-40 victory at Manchester Gymnasium.
Ervin finished with a game-high 17 points and eight rebounds while Evan Manocal chipped in with 11 points off the bench. Nate Armstrong led the Mustangs (0-14) with nine points while Scott Ogden added eight.
“We had a one-point loss at the buzzer to Telstar, and for two straight weeks, we’ve been in the doldrums. You can see it in practice. Everybody’s got their heads down and moping around,” said Lisbon coach Doug Sautter. “I told the guys, We’ve got to forget about the Telstar game.’ We went up to Carrabec Thursday, pulled one out in overtime and I told them maybe this will turn things around. Tonight, we were just trying to carry on the momentum.”
“We’re looking to get rolling off these two wins,” Ervin said.
The game wasn’t as close as the final score would indicate. Ervin helped Lisbon roar out to a 19-3 first quarter lead, finding seams in Monmouth’s zone and sinking an array of turnaround jumpers and jump hooks in the paint.
“I told the guys I wanted us to pound the ball inside right off the bat because they don’t have anybody to control our big men,” Sautter said. “I didn’t realize he was going to score our first 12 points, but that’s exactly what we asked for.”
“I was going to the hoop and they were giving me easy shots,” Ervin said. “Mike (Wilkins) was passing the ball great and all the guards were doing a good job breaking their zone. I was getting open looks from three, four, five feet.”
After pounding the ball inside in the first quarter, the Greyhounds began heating up from the perimeter in the second, riding 3-pointers from Manocal, Chris Kates and Maxx Hathaway to a 36-18 halftime lead. Any hopes of a Monmouth comeback in the second half were sunk when the Mustangs shot just 1-for-17 from the field in the third quarter.
The Greyhounds entered the week No. 9 in the Heals and didn’t get much help from the wins over Carrabec and Monmouth. They could pick up a lot of points in the home stretch, though, because their final four games are against four of the top six teams in the MVC. They play at home against Wiscasset and Winthrop, at Mountain Valley and then home again against Hall-Dale. It’s a stretch that could make or break their season.
“We’ve got Wiscasset coming in Tuesday. If we win that game, we’re a lock for the playoffs,” Sautter said. “That’s how we’re looking at it. It’s our playoff game.”
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