The Road Royals: LRSC improves to 3-0 in Mon-Dak

Balanced scoring and strong defense led the Lake Region State College men's basketball team to a 3-0 start in the Mon-Dak Conference Monday evening in Montana. The Royals had four scorers in double figures while holding a solid Dawson Community College team to just 24 points in the first half.

Ultimately, LRSC earned the 78-64 conference victory. Second-year head coach Jared Marshall was pleased with his team's defensive effort.

"This was an excellent defensive effort by our squad tonight. We held them to 24 points in the first half. We relaxed a bit in the second half, but you are going to win 99 percent of the time when you hold teams in the 60's," Marshall stated. The Royals shot 42 percent from the field winning the turnover battle while both teams finished with 49 rebounds. LRSC's ability to hold on to the ball continues to be a strength, the coach said.

"We continue to limit turnovers on offense and that has been key to our 3-0 start in conference play," he stated.

Cedric Boone led the way with 18 points. Jordan Bolton finished with 17 points. Ben Rennie chipped in with 12 points while Harvey Barr had a double-double recording 10 points and 16 boards. He also added four blocked shots. 

Fellow big man James Streeter had a nice night with eight points and five boards off the bench. Drew Thielges had four points while Jayson Edwards and Jon Lund scored three points apiece. Derrick Laudenbach added two points and Sam Riley rounded out the scoring with a point.

Barr and Streeter each big nights inside for the Royals.

"I was so happy with the play from both of our bigs tonight. They made a huge difference in the game. Harvey had a double-double and James gave us great minutes off the bench," Marshall pointed out.

With the victory, LRSC improved to 14-6 on the season and 3-0 in the conference.

"This start in the conference is great, our guys have started out with two big road wins and by protecting their home court. That's not the overall goal though. We continue to talk about going 1-0 every night and not being satsified," the coach commented.