It is a quick turnaround for both of these teams, having played less than 24 hours ago. Brewster comes off a thrilling win in their first Nike EYBL Scholastic game with a tough win over Sunrise Christian while IMG may still be licking their wounds from the loss to Montverde. At this level of basketball, there is a very short time frame for elation or dejection; you have got to be ready to go and perform at a high level when the ball goes up.
The Ascenders of IMG got out quickly with a three from Amari Allen and a steal and score by Darius Acuff to grab a 5-0 lead less than a minute into the game. Brewster got on the board with a three from Dwayne Aristode. IMG countered with a three of its own from Donovan Freeman and after Elijah Crawford hit a mid-range jumper for Brewster, IMG got a three from Acuff and a putback bucket from Chase McCarty to make the score 13-5 in the Ascenders favor. Brewster responded with a 10-0 run, five points coming from Aristode and five from Daniel Jacobsen. With just over three minutes to go in the first, Brewster led 15-13. A three from Khani Rooths gave IMG back the lead but a personal 5-0 run by Nicolas Indrusitis of Brewster gave them a four-point lead. Two free throws from Allen of IMG cut that that margin in half but Sebastian Wilkins of Brewster hit a three before the horn to make the score 23-18 in favor of Brewster after eight minutes.
A three by Gerard O’Keefe of IMG brought them to within two, but Brewster countered with a 7-2 run, five of those from Aristode, to lead 30-23 at the media timeout with just under four minutes left in the quarter. Both teams went dry for a spell until IMG ripped off seven unanswered, four from Freeman and a three from Felipe Quinones. It looked like we might head into the break tied at 30-30 but D.J. Shine of Brewster hit a late three to give them a 33-30 advantage.
That three-point margin stayed in effect until Brewster’s Crawford hit a three and Indrusitis scored on a drive to give Brewster 42-34 lead with 4:32 left in the quarter. A 6-0 run by IMG, four of those from Freeman, brought them back to within two. Crawford scored on a drive for Brewster but a three from Acuff brought IMG to within one, 44-43 at the media timeout with 2:53 to play in the period. Allen of IMG threw down a dunk in transition to give IMG the lead but Brewster grabbed it right back with a drive from Shine. Two free throws from Freeman of IMG ended the scoring for the third quarter with IMG up by a point, 47-46.
A 10-4 run by IMG, seven of those coming from Acuff, gave the Ascenders a 57-50 lead with just under five minutes to play. Brewster was unfazed. A transition bucket by Wilkins and five points in twenty seconds by Indrusitis tied the score at 57-57 in less than a minute. IMG hit a free throw then Brewster took a one-point lead after a mid-range jumper. A dunk by Rooths and a putback by Allen gave IMG a 62-59 lead with 1:26 remaining. Brewster got back to within one with under a minute to play but IMG’s Acuff hit a three with twenty-six seconds left to make it a two-possession game. Brewster was unable to overcome that and IMG went on to win by the score of 67-63.
Acuff led IMG with 24 points while Freeman followed with a double-double of 16 points and 12 rebounds.
Indruisitis led Brewster with 16 points while Aristode had a double-double of 15 points and 13 rebounds.