Royals Struggle to Find Consistency in Nebraska
The Lake Region State College Men’s Basketball team traveled to Norfolk, NE to take on a pair of NJCAA opponents in Northeast CC Hawks and Southwestern CC Spartans.
The Lake Region State College Men's Basketball team traveled to Norfolk, NE to take on a pair of NJCAA opponents in Northeast CC Hawks and Southwestern CC Spartans. The Royals would put their 12-3 record on the line against a pair of talented opponents.
Slow starts have plagued the Royals all season and continued to do so this weekend. Head Coach Jared Marshall said, "We continue to spot teams early leads and put ourselves in spots where we always have to come from behind."
In the first game against Northeast, the home team would jump out to an early 30-15 lead. The Royals struggled to score, leading to fast break opportunities from the Hawks. At the half LRSC trailed 51-35. Lake Region would mount a comeback coming out of the break cutting the Hawks lead to 10. The Royals would get no closer after that. Northeast would mount one more run to put the game out of reach. The final Northeast 94 Lake Region 76. Drew Thielges would lead the Royals with 20 points, Nik Fassos would score 11 points, in the paint Lamarr Wood 12 points 8 rebounds and Harvey Barr 11 points 9 rebounds would anchor the Royals.
In the second game against Southwestern the Spartans would jump out to an early 25-15 lead in the first 8 minutes of the contest. The Royals would do their best to close the gap, cutting the lead to 28-21. Heading into the half the score would be 44-34. Lake Region's offensive struggles in the first half continued into the second. The pressure defense from Southwestern gave them problems all day. They would only score 29 more points in the game. The final Southwestern 84 Lake Region 63. That would be the second lowest scoring output by the Royals on the season.
Head Coach Jared Marshall said, "We have to find a way to get out of the locker room. This has been a problem for us all year that we have to get that fixed. The other things that we need to improve on is our constant effort, energy and consistency. I liked the way we rebounded all weekend and had some good looks on the offensive end. We just could not get them to fall. When that happens we just need to rely on our defense and get stops."
The Royals head into break with a 12-5 record with what Coach Marshall referred to as, "More than few questions that need to be answered. I know this team has all the makings of a great team. We will be fine." They will be put to the test quickly as they open up with Rainy River CC on January 3rd at home.
Go Royals!