Royal men find home on the road, top UTTC

Article by Harry Lipsiea, Devils Lake Journal Sports, January 26th, 2017.

Statistics don't lie. In the case of the Lake Region State College men's basketball team's performance Thursday evening, the stat sheet tells the story. 

By winning the rebounding and turnover battles along with shooting better percentages from the field, free-throw line and beyond the arc, the Royals picked up its fourth conference win of the season.

The squad has proved to be road warriors picking up three Mon-Dak wins on the road. LRSC defeated an up-and-coming United Tribes Technical College team Thursday in Bismarck 100-87.

It started on the defensive end for the squad.

"I was proud of our defensive effort tonight. They (UTTC) are scoring 108 points per game and we held them in the 80s," second-year head coach Jared Marshall stated. "We weren't always perfect, but we made stops when needed them down the stretch."

The Royals forced 17 Thunderbird turnovers while limiting their turnovers to 12.

Cedric Boone led all players with 30 points. He also added six steals, five rebounds and three assists. 

"Cedric really carried us in the first half as he scoring 20 of his 30 points," Marshall said. "We had other guys step up in the second half when they really put the focus on stopping him."

Freshman Jordan Bolton finished with 24 points. Post players James Streeter and Harvey Barr each finished with 10 points. Nic Fassos scored nine points while Jayson Edwards chipped in with eight off the bench.

"Jayson did an amazing job off the bench tonight. He really gave us something and handled the press the whole night," Marshall said.

Sam Riley finished with five points while Ben Rennie rounded out the scoring with four points.

LRSC is 16-7 on the season and 4-1 in the conference. The Royals finish off the first half of their conference schedule Sunday at home against Dakota College at Bottineau. Tipoff is set for 4 p.m.