IMG Academy basketball falls to hobbled SPIRE Academy in ATLAS League
· Yahoo Sports
SPIRE Academy boys basketball put on a clinic against IMG Academy in the ATLAS League, downing the Ascenders 90-63 without their any centers available on Nov. 12 in Bradenton.
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The game got chippy early, with both teams trying to set he tone physically right after tip-off.
SPIRE's Moussa Kamissoko led the charge for his short-handed squad, and picked up a technical foul in the first quarter after scoring while getting fouled and addressing the IMG home crowd with gusto.
From there, Kamissoko took over the game. When Mohamed Kieta briefly left the game after taking a hard fall in the first quarter, SPIRE seemed to be in very dire straits.
Instead, Kammissoko shouldered the rebounding load and provided incredible help defense. The Syracuse commit tallied a game-high 14 boards with two blocks with 11 points.
After trading haymakers in the first quarter, IMG held a 17-16 lead. The lead evaporated as the tempo picked up, and by halftime the Ascenders found themselves in a 42-28 hole.
With no traditional bigs on the floor, SPIRE pushed the pace to the highest level. Everything got pushed up the floor, and SPIRE's guards were efficient with their paint touches.
King Gibson went 10-of-20 from the floor and 4-of-6 from deep for a game-high 26 points. Darrell Davis sniffed a triple-double with 23 points, seven assists and six rebounds.
With the tempo being pushed to the max, IMG got next to nothing from their bigs. Dylan Betts, the 7-foot-3 starter, finished with one point and largely did not play in the second half. His backup, the 7-2 Yahya Basaran, was 0-for-2 from the floor. Both registered just three rebounds.
With SPIRE dictating the game, the Ascenders found no flow on offense. They coughed up 16 turnovers as a team, which SPIRE feasted on with a higher tempo.
Malik Olajuwon led IMG with 13 points five assists, eight boards, two steals and a pair of blocks. Bentley Lusakueno tacked on 10 points and nine rebounds in the loss.
This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune: IMG Academy basketball falls to hobbled SPIRE Academy in ATLAS League