Benedictine (15-5, 5-2 NIIC) was a 64-57 winner at Dominican (7-13, 2-5 NIIC) on Jan. 8 in the teams' first meeting of the season, but the second match-up of the year featured much more offense.
Benedictine hit five of its first six shots from the field, and Dominican knocked down six of its first seven. The game featured eight lead changes in the first nine minutes of the game, and Dominican led 21-16 on a Bernie Talian trey less than seven minutes into the game. Dwight Mitchell pushed Benedictine in front for a good (24-23) with a pair of free throws with 10:57 left in the first stanza.
Though Benedictine never trailed again, the Eagles could not shake the visiting Stars. Jackson had six points in a 10-2 run that gave the Eagles their largest lead of the half (38-28) with less than six minutes to go. However, Dominican slowly chipped away at its deficit, as Kenny Goldthwaite scored six points in a 12-3 spurt that got the Stars to within 41-40 in the final seconds of the half. The hosts took momentum into the locker room, though, as Matt Harrison drained a 3-pointer from the top of the key just before the halftime buzzer, which left Benedictine with a 44-40 lead at the break.
Goldthwaite turned a steal into a fast break lay-up and conventional three-point play five minutes into the second half, which drew Dominican to within four points at 52-48. Benedictine scored six straight points to get its lead back to double digits, but Ivano Clay scored five straight points to cut that lead in half with less than 12 minutes to go in the game.
Benedictine took control of the game over the next three-plus minutes, getting scoring from five different players in a 10-0 run that left the Eagles with a 68-53 advantage. They kept a double-digit lead the rest of the contest, and led by as many as 21 points late in the game before settling for the 13-point victory.
Jackson led all players with 22 points and 11 rebounds, while also adding a game-high four steals. Amelianovich was superb in his second straight start, scoring 12 of his career-best 19 points in the first half. Zach Ramey had nine of his 14 points after the break, and dished out eight assists as well. Harrison just missed a double-double with nine points and a career-high 10 assists. Benedictine held a decided 35-24 advantage on the glass, limiting its foe to just six offensive boards. The Eagles also made 56 percent (34-61) of their shots from the floor.
Dominican sizzled from the 3-point line, knocking down 12-of-21 shots from long range. Talian connected on all five of his 3-point tries on his way to a team-best 17 points off the bench. Goldthwaite had 12 himself off the bench, while Clay (14) and Binyamin Jones (12) also scored in double figures.
Benedictine will play the second of three straight home games on Saturday, Feb. 5, when it entertains NIIC leader Clarke College.