University was riding high after downing VASJ in a high-scoring affair on Jan. 30. But the Preppers couldn’t rest as they were back on the court less than 24 hours later, hosting Shaw. The Preppers’ defense led the charge, with the offense pushing the lead in the second and third quarters, en ro ute to a 70-35 victory. University improves to 11-8 on the season, and Shaw falls to 4-12. University took a quick lead with 3-pointers by Tylar Robinson and Mario Gaspar. But a pair of buckets from Zane Smiley and Sephiroth Rivers kept it close. But the Preppers used their strong shooting from beyond the arc, connecting on four of their first five 3-pointers to have an 18-12 lead with two minutes left in the first quarter. That’s where their defense stepped it up. From the final two minutes of the first through the third quarters, the Cardinals scored just 12 points as they struggled with the Preppers’ modified 1-3-1 zone. “I give a lot of the credit to our players and our assistant coach Nick Sciria,” University coach Sean McDonnell said. “We think about being different defensively and making the opponents uncomfortable. We try to make our best defense the opponent’s second-best offense. We were in a bit of a rhythm defensively, and I think at times Shaw might have been a little off balance.” The defensive wall led to a bundle of opportunities on the offensive end for University. Aditya Nalla hit a 3-pointer to open the second quarter. That was followed by Robinson hitting back-to-back 3-pointers and a sequence of Brady Farah having an offensive rebounding and finding Kingston Oliver on a kick-out for a 3-pointer. The Preppers were 14-for-23 from beyond the arc. Carter Webb made four and Gaspar, Oliver and Robinson hit three. Robinson led the way with 16 points while Webb (14 points), Oliver (13) and Gaspar (12) were all in double figures. “Aditya and Tylar certainly command a ton of attention,” McDonnell said. “We want their teammates to thrive off of that. Mario had an incredible weekend, Kingston has been outstanding all season as well. Even Carter coming off the bench has been big. He didn’t score against VASJ but he made such an impact in every other phase.” McDonnell said the Preppers’ biggest issue this season has been rebounding. The Preppers run their offense from beyond the arc, and that makes crashing the boards more of a challenge. They have found several ways to counteract the issues on the glass. One of which is relying on strong on-ball defense. “We make it intentional for the opponents,” Robinson said. “With Shaw, we knew that they were a 52% offensive rebounding team and we had to make the best out of it. We had to seal our guys in the paint, get on a body, keep the main thing the main thing.” This was the Preppers’ eighth back-to-back of the Preppers season. They have split results. Before Jan. 30-31, they only posted two straight wins when they beat North and Cleveland JFK on Dec. 19 and 20. After a 91-86 victory over VASJ, the Preppers didn’t celebrate much, but rather turned their attention right back to the court. The players know that with how tight the field is in the Division III playoff field, they need to be able to adjust to any situation on as short-term notice as possible. “The way we practice is the most important,” Robinson said. “We keep our intensity up, and we’re conditioned. We’re prepared to play big games at a consistent rate and we have a good feel for handling those types of games.” Shaw was led by Smiley with 10 points and Rivers with eight. The Preppers return to the court Feb. 7 with a trip to Dover. ...read more read less