Strong Finish Leads to Win for Royals

Article by Chris Harris, Devils Lake Journal Sports, January 20th, 2019

There was a moment with two minutes remaining in the game when sophomore guard Jordan Lynn blocks a layup attempt from behind that leads to an open Lake Region State College transition 3-pointer by Dalton Prouty. 

It was a beautiful sequence in an otherwise ugly affair.

Regardless, it became an 81-72 win for the Royals over Bismarck State College Sunday from the Sports Center.

"An ugly win is better than a pretty loss," said Royals head coach Jared Marshall. "So we'll take it."

Lynn, who finished with 23 points, was the featured cog in the Royals comeback. He scored 14 points in the final 6:50, including going 6-of-7 from the free throw line over the last 1:12 to ensure the Royals victory. Lynn was 11-of-13 from the charity stripe. He also finished with 11 rebounds, six assists and two blocks.

"Jordan Lynn. Man had ice in his veins when it came to the free throw line to finish it off and made some big plays down the stretch," Marshall said.

The win didn't come easy as the Royals (16-5, 4-0 MonDak) got down early as the Mystics jumped out to a 20-4 advantage to open the game. The Royals trailed by 18 before inching their way back. They got to within eight by halftime, fell back to 12 with 16:42 left but a Prouty 3-pointer and an Akeen Woods basket on consecutive possessions got the Royals to within five at 50-45 with 14:32 remaining.

After a 3-pointer by Grant Kohlus made the score 62-53 Mystics, the Royals went on a 15-1 run, capped off by a Zac Olson 3-pointer that gave LRSC the 68-63 lead with just under five minutes remaining. And with the Royals hanging on to the two point advantage, Lynn's block that led to the Prouty 3-pointer put the Royals up five with 1:57 left to go.

"We definitely didn't get off to the start that we wanted. We were a little disinterested, a little out of it out there. We needed to be better at the start," said Marshall. "Sometimes that's what matters, how you finish rather than how you start."

"Luckily, we didn't dig ourselves too big of a hole."

Prouty finished with 19 points, a perfect 4-of-4 from beyond the arc, along with eight rebounds and five assists, Zac Olson had 13 points and Woods had 10.

Kohlus scored 21 points to pace the Mystics who fell to 5-13 overall, 1-3 in the MonDak.