The Erie BayHawks never trailed en route to a 116-102 win on the route over the Idado Stampede. The win was the fourth straight for Erie, which ties a season high for consecutive wins. The BayHawks are now 17-25 on the season. Idaho drops to 20-20, on the outside looking in at the playoffs if they started today.
As has been the story in recent games, the trio of John Bryant, Mike Gansey, and Blake Ahearn led the way for the BayHawks. Together, they combined for 68 percent of Erie's points. Bryant had 24 points (10-26 shooting), 16 rebounds, and 3 blocks. The big man did have 6 turnovers, but he's responded in a big way since Erie traded Alade Aminu and put the onus on him to produce.
On the same night that his alma mater West Virginia won the Big East Tournament Championship, Gansey had a triumphant return to Idaho, where he played before being traded from the Stampede to the BayHawks back on Dec. 31. He scored 26 points (10-20 shooting) with 10 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. In the month of March (5 games), Gansey is averaging 24.8 points per game on 52.1 percent shooting (45.2 percent from 3, 92.3 percent from the free throw line), to go along with 9 rebounds, 3.8 assists, and 1.6 steals while playing 45 minutes per game.
Ahearn led the team in scoring with 28 points (10-20 shooting), but he did have just 3 assists with 6 turnovers. After scoring just 13 points in his BayHawks debut, which Erie lost, Ahearn has averaged 26.3 points per game as a key player in Erie's four-game winning streak.
The other story for the BayHawks tonight was the debut of Michael Sweetney. The former Georgetown Hoya played just under 24 minutes off the bench and made his presence felt with 19 points on 7-11 shooting while grabbing 9 rebounds. Conditioning remains a question for Sweetney, but he knows how to handle himself in the paint. And Erie did play the tag team of Sweetney and Big Bad John Bryant at times in this game.
Former BayHawk Donell Taylor did not play tonight for the Stampede, missing his second straight game (both losses). Taylor's production has improved across the board since being traded from Erie. With Idaho, Taylor averaged 22 points per game on 50.5 percent shooting (up from 18.7 and 45.4 percent with Erie). He's also averaging 6.7 rebounds and 4.8 assists with the Stampede (up from 6.2 and 2.8 with the BayHawks.)
The BayHawks will shoot for a 3-0 West Conference roadtrip Monday night when they visit Utah to take on the Flash.
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