Staff report

CONCORD — East Rowan’s boys basketball team probably could play Robinson 100 times and lose 100 times.

Sometimes it’s Jimmys and Joes, not X’s and O’s. Robinson is more talented than the Mustangs are right now, and the athletic Bulldogs rolled 77-41 in Friday’s South Piedmont Conference game.

Robinson wasn’t scary at all early, firing 3s and missing 3s.  East (0-7, 0-4) successfully rebounded most of those misses in the opening minutes and had a chance for a good start on the road, but the Mustangs couldn’t scratch. They couldn’t buy one.

Dunks by Brian Rowe and Londen Roseman finally got the Bulldogs energized,  and their aggressive defensive pressure forced the Mustangs into a series of helter-skelter offensive possessions that resulted either in turnovers or rushed shots.

It was 12-0 before East got on the board on a free throw by Daelyn Gibson. Ti’jon Everheart, returning from an ankle injury, made an off-balance shot for the Mustangs’ first field goal,

By the end of the first quarter, Robinson was starting to find the range. Roseman and Xavier Burnette put 3-pointers in the scorebook, and the Mustangs were in an 18-4 hole.

It was 44-18 at the half, it got worse for East in the third quarter, and Robinson (4-2, 3-0) was content to trade buckets in the fourth.

Jonathan Wembolua had some early struggles, but finished with 14 points.

“We played hard and gave a lot of effort,” East head coach Andrew Porter said. “But we missed too many layups and too many free throws. It was just an off night for us as far as shooting. We couldn’t hit anything.”

East Rowan plays South Rowan on Tuesday. Both teams could really use a win before Christmas.

East Rowan     4     14       8     15   — 41

Robinson         18     26    19  14   — 77

EAST — Wembolua 14, Jones 8, Reid 4, Lino 4, Everhart 4, Chesney 2, Butler 2, Klingler 2, Gibson 1.