The Presidents came to town for a Sunday matinee with the undefeated Dragons, bringing along Patriot League All-Star Doug Scott and his high-powered offense. By the time they left the building on the short end of a 61-47 defeat to Duxbury, it was the defense of junior Brian Grossman that had the fans buzzing.

Despite Scott’s 19 points, Grossman covered his former AAU teammate like a glove, keeping him from getting into his offensive rhythm and pretty much making the rest of the Presidents minor players for most of the afternoon.

“Grossman played great defense on Scott and he got plenty of help to hold him below his average,” said Duxbury Coach Gordon Cushing.

Duxbury’s own offensive powerhouse, Mark Brust, got things rolling by nailing a three-pointer on his opening shot, but it was matched by Scott, who had his team in front 6-3 in a couple of minutes.

Grossman, Brust, and junior center Aaron Cramer combined for seven straight points for a 10-6 lead, but Quincy battled back in the final two minutes of the quarter to tie the game at 13-13.

A 6-2 run to start the second quarter had Quincy ahead 19-15, but Sam Davidson, Grossman, Brust, and Mike Sullivan ripped off eight straight points to regain the lead at 23-19 with 3:29 left in the half.

Cushing called a timeout after Sullivan’s basket to give his troops a breather, and the respite was just what they needed, as they came back on the floor and went on a 7-2 run that included an Ian Whitney hoop at the buzzer for a 30-21 halftime lead.

“We were kind of sloppy in the first half and turned the ball over too many times,” said Cushing. “I don’t know why we did that, but we talked about it at halftime.”

The third quarter has been a big one for the Dragons all season long, and it was no different on Sunday, as three-pointers by Brust, Davidson, and Grossman propelled Duxbury to a 43-25 lead for their biggest advantage of the afternoon.

Five straight points by Scott cut the lead temporarily before Cramer, Davidson, and Brust had the lead back up to 49-32 at the end of three quarters.

A pair of free throws from junior forward C.J. Cote gave the Dragons their biggest lead of the game at 51-32 to start the fourth quarter, allowing Cushing to soak in the victory and give some playing time to his bench in his team’s 14th consecutive victory.

“Our defense was terrific tonight,” said Cushing. “When you can hold a team to an average of 12 points a quarter and keep them in the 40s you are going to win a bunch of basketball games.”

Brust was the game’s top scorer with 24 points, while Grossman chipped in with 12 and Davidson totaled seven.

After last night’s home game with North Quincy, the Dragons now get ready for Hingham, who was one of the pre-season favorites to capture the Patriot League crown and also was an opening night victim (69-58) of the Dragons.