“We’re not just teammates. He’s really become my brother, too.
“And that’s the amazing thing about life. You meet people through the game of basketball and you never know where it can go.”
Wednesday night at UD Arena, their brotherhood went from the bench to center stage as they led UD to an 82-61 rout of Massachusetts.
The pair hit four three-pointers apiece and each finished with a game-high 16 points to lead the Flyers to their 20th victory of the season. It’s their fifth win in a row and they’re now looking far better than their 20-8 record.
Both Amzil and Brea agreed that defense is the key to the team’s – and their own – success. And as Wednesday night also proved, the Flyers – who had five players in double figures – can have any number of different stars on offense in a given game.
The roommates’ 32 points is their best combined effort of the season, though their performances in the 74-73 upset of No. 4 Kansas in late November may be more noteworthy. Brea provided 10 crucial points and Amzil had the stunning, game-winning basket at the buzzer.
After Wednesday’s game, Flyers coach Anthony Grant said Brea’s and Amzil’s big nights were predicated by the defense they played and the other facets of their games.
Amzil had six rebounds, including five on the offensive boards, two of which he put back up for scores. Brea had a pair of steals off the press, both of which led to fast-break lay-ups.
In the early stages of the game, the Minutemen – who came into UD Arena as the best three-point shooting team in the Atlantic 10 and one of the best in the nation – found themselves out of sync because of the Flyers’ relentless defense.
At times, they ended up in near panic mode as the shot clock was expiring and they were forced to throw up a desperation heave.
In the first half, UMass made just 3 of 12 three pointers and trailed 46-23 at the half. Thanks to six treys in the game’s final 10 minutes – when the contest was well in hand for Dayton – the Minutemen’s long-range efforts ( 9 of 28) looked better than they were.
UMass’s leading scorer, Noah Fernandes, was in foul trouble much of the game, missed all five of his shots on the night and did not score.
“Defensively in the first half, that’s as good as we’ve been all year,” Grant admitted afterward.
The sell-out crowd agreed and when the horn sounded to end the half, most of the 13,407 people in attendance stood and applauded the Flyers as they headed to the locker room.
Team players
At first consideration, Brea and Amzil might not seem to have that much in common.
Brea grew up in the Washington Heights section of Upper Manhattan. Both of his parents were born in the Dominican Republic and there was a strong Dominican presence in his New York City neighborhood.
Amzil was raised in Helsinki, Finland. His mother is Finnish and his dad is from Morocco.
“We’ve shared a whole bunch of stories together – where we come from and the whole basketball aspect of everything – and we just formed a great bond,” Brea said.
Amzil said it was “a good pairing” when he and Brea were put together: “We’re real close to each other.”
Brea said while their “upbringings were a little different,” they shared some basketball similarities:
“He said basketball wasn’t that big of a sport in Finland. And in the Dominican Republic, baseball is the major sport. So in some ways we were like the odd men out. We just had to find our way.”
Brea, who’s now 6-foot-6, played for the Dominican Republic’s Under-17 national team in the FIBA Centrobasket Championships in Puerto Rico.
Amzil, now 6-foot-10, played for several youth national teams in Finland. Among his 86 international games were efforts in the European Championships, the All Nordic Championships and the All Baltic Seas Championships.
Each has had a standout game at UD.
In his Flyers’ debut last season, Amzil scored 22 points against LaSalle. This season, Brea had 20 against St. Bonaventure.
Both redshirt freshmen, they’re on a team loaded with young talent and that’s meant embracing a role that best enhances the prosperity of the entire team.
Although Amzil started 15 of the 19 games he played in last season and Brea started the first two games this season, both now come off the bench.
“In some ways I feel like we’re a lot alike,” Brea said. “We’ve been though some of the same situations this year and now we’ve figured out our role.
“Sometimes we’ve felt we’re able to be doing more, but the opportunity is not there. But I feel we’ve done a good job keeping our heads up and now we’re making it work. And it doesn’t just help us, it helps the team, as well.”
While noting “winning helps” in a situation like that, Grant also stressed: “We’ve got guys who are good people. They care about each other and want to do the right things.
“When you can see results, you get to where you can buy into the identity we need to play and that becomes contagious.”
Trying not to ‘look forward’
As the regular season is winding down, the resurgent Flyers bear no resemblance to that uncertain bunch that started the season 1-3 and suffered stunning home losses to three unheralded teams brought in as schedule fillers.
The Flyers now appear to be on the bubble of the NCAA Tournament field.
And with each victory – eight in the last nine games and 12 in the last 14 – the Flyers are getting better and better
“Definitely 100 percent” Brea agreed. “We feel like every game we play we’re taking more strides forward.”
While he said they’ve heard the NCAA Tournament talk – “and the tournament is definitely a goal we have this season,” – Brea cautioned that he and his teammates don’t “look into that too much. We just try to control what we can and keep winning games. We try not to look too forward. We just try to focus on the next game.”
The next one is Saturday at LaSalle and Amzil, for one, said he likes playing on the road, especially this year with fans back in the stands: “It’s fun in the other cities. I feel the heat, especially from their student sections. I like that.”
Once back home, it’s a return to the Caldwell Street apartment he and Brea share.
“We take care of each other and try to keep everything nice and neat,” Brea said, then laughed. “I won’t lie though, sometimes it gets a little messy. But we clean it up. We make sure everything looks good.”
With deadly three-point shooting and 32 points between them, that’s what they did for the Flyers at UD Arena on Wednesday night, as well.
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