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By ANDREW SIMONSON | Sports Editor

MONTEVALLO – After falling in their opener against the Briarwood Christian Lions, the Montevallo Bulldogs wasted little time in getting Byron Gaskin his first wins at the school.

Montevallo won at home on back-to-back days as it defeated the Brookwood Panthers 60-36 on Monday, Nov. 11 before topping the LAMP Golden Tigers 89-69 on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

In the first game of the set against Brookwood, Demeco Gibson paced the offense with 10 points in the opening quarter, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Nahjear Russell and Dee Cutts chipped in deep shots of their own to help Montevallo score 18 points in the first, outpacing the Panthers in the early going to lead 18-7 after the opening period.

Montevallo’s defense continued to keep Brookwood limited on the offensive end with another seven-point showing in the second quarter.

While the Bulldogs had a little less production from the floor in the second, the Ross brothers Buck and Keiston each knocked down a pair of free throws to help their team outscore the Panthers 11-7 during the quarter.

That put Montevallo up 29-14 going into the halftime locker room, and the lead only grew in the second half.

Eight points from Buck and five from Gibson in the third quarter powered the Bulldogs to 17 points out of the halftime break.

That matched a 17-point effort from the Panthers as the visitors caught fire for a trio of 3-pointers in the third quarter, maintaining the Bulldogs’ 15-point lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Now with a 46-31 advantage, Montevallo pulled away in the fourth quarter with Buck leading the way once again. The hosts won the final period 14-5 to claim the 60-36 victory, which was Gaskin’s first as the Bulldogs head coach.

Buck led all scorers with 19 points while Gibson scored 18 points off four 3-pointers. Cutts added seven points and Keiston earned four points in the win.

Montevallo then turned around just a day later and earned a dominant victory over LAMP.

The Bulldogs offense took over from the early moments of the game as Cutts erupted for 11 points in the first quarter and Keiston and Russell joined him with multiple field goals.

All in all, Montevallo scored 27 points in the opening period, which gave the hosts a 27-10 lead at the end of the first.

The Golden Tigers offense woke up in the second quarter and posted 20 more points before halftime, but the Bulldogs continued to outpace them on the other side of the court.

Russell added 10 points to his total in the second quarter and Buck scored five more points ahead of the break to give Montevallo a 26-point quarter.

With that, the Bulldogs increased their lead to 53-30 heading into halftime.

While Keiston knocked down a pair of 3-pointers out of the locker room to help the offense out, Montevallo was outscored 21-19 by LAMP in the third quarter, which cut into the Bulldogs’ halftime lead.

However, it wouldn’t be enough to threaten Montevallo’s position in from as it led 72-51 leading into the fourth quarter.

The two offenses continued to trade blows until the end, with Cutts adding on eight more points for the road and Buck scoring six more of his own.

The Golden Tigers outscored the Bulldogs by one in the fourth, but Montevallo still walked away with a commanding 20-point victory to improve to 2-1 on the season.

Cutts led both teams with 26 points as four different Bulldogs got into double figures. Russell scored 19 points, Buck earned 18 points and Keiston had 10 points. Gibson chipped in seven points as well in the victory.

Montevallo will look to continue its winning ways in a tough road trip to county foe Pelham on Thursday, Nov. 14 at 7:30 p.m. The game will pit the Bulldogs against their former coach Greg Dickinson.