By Kyle Roberts
WEST MONROE, La. — Stopping Ahmad Hudson is the primary scout for any Ruston opponent.
Despite West Monroe knowing the gameplan, the sophomore forward proved unstoppable against, scoring 38 points in a 71-60 Bearcat win (16-5; 4-1 District 2-5A) over the Rebels (12-13; 2-3 District 2-5A) to close out the regular season.
“We scored the ball well tonight,” acting-head coach Corey Deans said. “I thought we ran some good action offense. (Ahmad) had some really good put-backs. West Monroe pressed a lot, so he got the ball to the middle, and he attacked one-on-one defenders. He got a lot of a rebounds and took them coast-to-coast pretty much all night.”
The Rebels held close in the first quarter as Ruston took a 19-18 lead by the end of the period. Hudson scored seven first quarter points, while senior Aidan Anding score five. Senior Joran Parker knocked down a three-pointer in the first, and sophomore Keshun Malcolm added three points, as well.
Ruston extended the lead to 34-26 going into halftime after 11 points from Hudson and four from Anding.
Anding and junior Zaterrion Sutton would both knock down three-pointers in the third to go alongside 10 more from Hudson to give Ruston a 52-43 lead going into the fourth. Hudson added 10 more in the the final period, while Anding added six more.
Hudson’s 38 led all scorers, while Anding finished the night with 18.
“I think we still have a lot of work to do,” Deans said. “Obviously, the playoffs is one loss and you go home. I know we can execute for 32 minutes; we just haven’t done it yet. We’ve got a week off to practice and fine tune some things — if we do, I think we’ll have a really good chance.”
As of Friday night, Ruston was ranked No. 7 unofficially in the power rankings and will wait the end of the regular season to see where they will land in the bracket.
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