Sweet 16: Grace Brethren vs. Alexandria City

Recap

by Boots Giblin

Grace Brethren defeated Alexandria City, 78-75, to add another instant classic to what has already been an exhilarating summer league playoffs. The #8 vs the #9 matchup boasted a lot of talented players with high scoring efforts, seven lead changes, and much more. Alexandria City did a lot of their scoring through well-timed cuts to the lane, and guard Kye Robinson having his way the whole game on the offensive end. Grace Brethren looked to bring ball pressure early in the contest which generated some success, but Alexandria City was able to adjust accordingly and Grace Brethren reverted from the press. Offensively, Grace Brethren had a balanced scoring attack, as they were able to beat Alexandria City off the dribble frequently and crashed the boards nicely, but they didn’t get a lot of their jumpshots to fall. Six of twelve from the free throw line didn’t help their efforts as well, but seven second chance points and eight points off of Alexandria turnovers helped Grace Brethren maintain a lead for most of the half, and enter the second half leading 36-34. 

Alexandria City would need to find scoring from other players not named Kye Robinson and Darius Bivins, who combined for 29 of their 34 first half points, if they wanted to come out with a victory. The two guards kept their scoring successes going as Robinson finished with 37 points on 79% shooting from the field and 14-16 of the line, paired with Bivins 21 points and 5 assists, but the rest of the Titans shot just 6-21 from the field for the game, and that was the difference maker. In the second half both teams traded buckets for the first 10 minutes of the half, and Alexandria City was able to trim Grace Brethren leads of 7 and and 10 with under six minutes to play, and mostly every statistical category was even, but Grace Brethren was able to find crunch time scoring from multiple players as they had four different players in double figures. In the final two minutes it came down to Alexandria being able to string together multiple stops, but they never had an answer for Grace Brethren’s dribble penetration, and Grace Brethren knocked down a few key free throws to seal the win. 

Grace Brethren will face off against the winner of Patriot vs Bullis, and look to continue their run in hopes of making the summer league final four. For Alexandria City, today’s loss marks the end of an eight win summer league campaign, and much more to build on for their upcoming season in the patriot district.