Grand Street Campus vs Benjamin Banneker 1/30/13

On December 12th, 2012, the Grand Street Campus Wolves lost in double overtime to Benjamin Banneker in the Wolves Den; this time around the Wolves visited the undefeated Warriors on January 30th, 2013. The Wolves, coming into this game, knew that they had to perform at a very high level in order to defeat Banneker; everyone sensed how big this game was. After coming off of a 3 game winning streak against Bushwick Campus, John Jay, and Automotive, the then 8-2 Wolves had some momentum coming into this game. With Banneker's stacked 17 man roster, Coach Sharpe said that the key to winning was that the bench was ready to play. From the tip, Banneker pressured Grand Street making them turn the ball over on their very first possession. The turnovers for Grand Street continued to rack up as they experienced some difficulty with Banneker's vexatious defense. Grand Street's first points came at about 5 minutes in the first quarter from Joel Banton.

It was translucent that the Warriors objective was to make GSC work for every point. On one end of the court, the Wolves shots weren't falling and on the other end, the Wolves allowed Banneker's guards to breeze past them in the paint. Late in the first quarter, the Wolves calmed down and finally got a break by scoring off of a steal. The Wolves managed to take a 12-5 lead with 1:32seconds left in the first as a result of effective ball sharing. One area that foreshadowed some trouble was the rebounding-- GSC allowed the shorter Banneker players to get offensive rebounds leading to easy put backs.The first quarter ended on a Banneker run putting them only down 11-12. In the 2nd quarter, the poor defensive rebounding from the Wolves continued despite their increased effort on the defensive end. Prince- Jov Antonie, who had just 2 points in Banneker's previous game against Dr. Susan S. Mckinny, caught fire from behind the arc knocking down 3 well guarded 3 pointers mid-second quarter. Coach Sharpe gathered his team after the last 3 which got the crowd fired up, to remind them that "the game is not over". Out of the timeout, the Wolves took their time in finding Joel Banton for a quick jumper; the score was then 19-16. Banneker continued to take advantage of Grand Street's lack of presence in the paint by driving in and making lay-ups. Before everyone knew it, Banneker jumped out to a 10 point lead with 2 minutes to play in the second. Lawahn Lewis, who was bothered by the referees and Banneker players, scored his first point in the whole game-- a 3 pointer with 4 seconds left in the 2nd. The halftime score was 30-20 with Banneker on top. During halftime Coach Sharpe said "we're controlling [the game] fine, we're just not getting anything off the bench". After Banneker received their first point of the 3rd from the free-throw line, GSC went on a 5-0 run cutting Banneker's lead to 4. A major turning point occurred when Lawahn Lewis got called for two quick fouls, in which Lewis and Coach Sharpe disagreed with. One specific play showcased the Wolves inability to rebound in the 3rd when Grand Street players allowed Guard Lynden Parkinson to catch an offensive rebound and score. Lewis, knowing that it was time to step up, began to attack inside earning him a trip to the free-throw line. The third quarter ended with Nathaniel Wyatt getting out and running, scoring 4 points to put GSC in a good position to come back, the score was 42-39. The Warriors lead diminished when Lawahn Lewis knocked down 2 tough 3's to start the fourth quarter. It was evident that GSC's defensive guard play,

started to take a toll on the Warriors as they were forced to run more clock time down in order to set up a play; nevertheless, Banneker continued to score off of offensive rebounds. A similar situation to that of Grand Street's last game against Banneker-- the foul situation was 8-1 with 3 minutes to play in the 4th favoring Banneker. In a time out, Coach Sharpe made sure he had some words with the referees concerning this matter. The foul situation improved for GSC as Banneker picked up 2 quick fouls. GSC's Assistant Coach urged Lawahn Lewis to keep his head after Lewis become irritated by missed calls. When Lewis was sent to the bench he looked toward the Assistant Coach asking if he fouled out; the Coach confirmed his suspicion and all Lewis could do was sit in disappointment reminiscent of the team’s last game against Banneker. With 1:15 to play the score was 50-45 Banneker leading. After two made free throws from Banneker's Devante Carolina, Anthony Deese who is known for his assisting, scored a 3 pointer to bring the score to 52-48. With 32 seconds left in the game and the Wolves down by 8, (because of Banneker's offensive rebounds) Joel Banton hit two pressured 3's for GSC.

The 3's weren't enough as the Wolves were forced to foul Banneker every time they received the ball. The final score was 58-54 with Banneker again triumphing over the Grand Street Campus Wolves. What frustrated Coach Sharpe was not the lack of poise from his players, but instead, the 19 total offensive rebounds from a GSC team that caught 29 defensive rebounds in one game against John Jay. When asked how crucial was losing Lawahn Lewis in the 4th and what was the main cause of the lost, Coach Sharpe replied " Lawahn is an extra scorer and a good defender. Our bench just wasn't ready for this highly competitive game". Unfortunately, the win that the Wolves wanted so badly was jeopardized because of their poor rebounding. Benjamin Banneker now 11-0 will play John Jay (3-8) on February 1st at John Jay. The Wolves (8-3) will head on the road to face Dr. Susan S. Mckinny (5-6) whom they have beaten 82-54 on December 17th, 2012, also on the 1st of February.