The last of the first-quarter fireworks from Dunbar boys basketball came at the buzzer, a successful 3-point heave from Jalen Gause that banked in against visiting Poly on Thursday.
By then, the host Poets had a pretty good feeling that it was going to be their night.
It was the hot start — 6-for-6 on 3-pointers in the first quarter — and stingy defense that led Dunbar to a sturdy 74-61 win over the Engineers in Baltimore City Division I league play.
Gause scored a team-high 16 points as the Poets (10-3) kept their hopes of reaching the league title game alive with a strong performance. Poly, which got 21 points from Isaiah Bell, is now 11-4.
Senior guard Jordan Moody set the tone when he launched a long-range 3 on the Poets’ opening possession. Three other Poets made 3’s, including three from Gause, who made it 23-10 with his last one in the final second of the opening period.
“I just had a bunch of confidence out there. The guys trusted me to take those shots and I was just shooting them,” he said.
The Engineers would cut the lead to 31-23 in the opening minute of the third quarter, but the deficit proved too much to overcome with Dunbar enjoying another string of 3’s. Latrell Fields hit two straight to push the advantage to 37-23 and two more would follow in the third for a 52-37 lead entering the fourth quarter.
It was a balanced performance for the Poets. In addition to Gause’s strong play, Moody (12 points), Jordan Battle (10) and James Foster (10) reached double figures with Wilbert Williams and Fields netting nine apiece.
“When we’re making shots, they’re in trouble,” Dunbar coach Donte Pretlow said. “We got some capable shooters, guys that can make some shots. So we’re just trying to get them to stick to their principles, play to their strengths, take the shots they’re capable of and when they’re falling, it’s going to be a great day.”
Poly, now out of the title game mix with its second straight league loss, got 12 points from Victor Gray and 11 from Judah Johnson.
“I just told my guys to keep fighting. But we missed a lot of layups, free throws and struggled some defensively, so it was a tough night,” Poly coach Donald Thomas said.
Dunbar is next set to host Milford Mill at 5:30 p.m. Monday in non-league play. Poly hosts No. 8 SEED School at 5:15 p.m. Thursday.
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P: 10-11-16-24 — 61
D: 23-8-21-22 — 74
P: Bell 21, Gray 12, Johnson 11, Jordan 6, D. Williams 6, N. Williams 3, McDonald 2
D: Gause 16, Battle 10, Moody 12, Foster 10, Williams 9, Fields 9, Cooper 6, Harrison 2