"Well, we will take the victory but that wasn't as easy as we'd hoped." Nally said after the win. "I thought we came out extremely sluggish in the first half but picked up the intensity in that 3rd quarter.  That allowed us to pull away from them."

 

After beating Boston English by 23 points earlier in the season, the Tornadoes may have taken their opponents a bit too lightly in the first half.  English led 17-12 after one quarter and 32-31 at halftime.  Once again, the Tornadoes seemed a step too slow on defense, allowing their opponent easy access to the paint and multiple trips to the free throw line.

 

After losing starting forward Nate Ilebode to injury at the end of the 2nd quarter, the Tornadoes turned to former starter Darren Pierre to pick up the slack.  Pierre picked up the slack to the tune of 11 of his team-high 13 points in the 3rd quarter to go along with 3 blocked shots.  Pierre finished the night with 13 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks.  Pierre's frontcourt mate, senior Fabian Price-Hernandez also played a big role.  Price-Hernandez locked down English' number one scoring option while picking up 11 points of his own, including 7 in the final period.  Price-Hernandez helped Malden hold Boston English to just 2 points in the 3rd quarter as the Tornadoes began to pull away for the victory.  He would finish the night with 11 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists.

 

"I thought Fabs and Darren gave it to us on both ends in the second half." Nally added. "They were able to protect the rim and guarded against any penetration which was huge."

 

Malden continues its tough week as they take on Lynn Classical in Malden on Wednesday night before a return engagment with Medford, this time at the Cage in Medford.  Malden will be looking to avenge their blowout home loss to the Mustangs a week ago.  Both game times are set for 7pm.