For a second consecutive night, Statesboro had to grind out a win in a defensive struggle. The Blue Devils never held a lead of more than eight points, but rarely trailed and finished strong in notching a 44-40 victory over Bradwell Institute Saturday night at the Devil’s Den. Bradwell (12-8) was even with the Devils (14-5) with just 5:32 to play, but Michael Salomon (seven points) hit a pair of clutch put-backs off of offensive rebounds and Akeem Oglesby (nine points) hit three of four free throws down the stretch to escape with a win.