In averaging 35 points per game, it wouldn’t be a stretch to classify Marshall senior guard Patrick Beverley as the key to his team’s fortunes, but the leadership he offers is just as valuable to a young squad that features only two seniors among its top six players.
“I try to get my teammates involved so they feel more confident,” Beverley said. “Defenses are collapsing on me, so the other guys on the floor are going to get a lot of chances to score too.”
As is normally the case, Beverley garnered the biggest share of the Commandos’ scoring load Tuesday in their 95-60 Public League Red West rout at Manley. His 45 points left him only one behind the 46 the entire Wildcats’ roster had amassed when he left the game with five minutes left.
It was Beverley’s second straight 45-point outburst and his fifth of the year of more than 40. He wasn’t one-dimensional, either, scoring in many different ways–dropping in long three-pointers and fall-away midrange jumpers, scooping in layups off a power dribble and punctuating his performance with four second-half breakaway dunks, three of which came off steals.
“This is the kind of game we like to play,” said Beverley of Marshall’s all-out assault that typically begins with the opening tip. “We do a lot of running in practice to make sure we never get tired and we didn’t.”
The Commandos (8-1, 1-0) opened a 28-10 lead after the first quarter and increased it to 48-20 with a minute remaining in the first half on a Ryan Hare basket. By the end of the third quarter, the cushion had swelled to 74-38 and Marshall emptied the bench shortly thereafter.
Beverley was the only senior starter vs. Manley (2-3, 0-1), and the Commandos’ other double-digit scorers were Hare, a sophomore, with 13, and freshman guard Darrius Smith with 12. Sophomore forward Deon Garrett and junior swingman Mike Stovall were the other starters.
