Wildcats Overwhelm Royals

Article by Chris Harris, Devils Lake Journal Sports, February 21st, 2019

For Lake Region State College men's basketball team, when the bottom fell, things went downhill faster then Kingda Ka.

North Dakota State College of Science used a 22-3 run to dismantle the Royals 103-66 Wednesday night from the Sports Center sending Lake Region State to its fifth straight loss.

"That 22-3 run at the end of the half, that was it," said head coach Jared Marshall. "We were right there battling, they went on that run, we got cold and we just never recovered from it."

There were 12 lead changes and five ties over the first 14 minutes of the first half. The Royals (18-12, 6-7 MonDak) led 33-31 after Zac Olson completed a 3-point play. Gare Ewefada's 3 gave the Wildcats a one point lead but Olson made two free throws that gave the Royals the 35-34 advantage. Olson, who finished with 14 points and four rebounds, connected on a 3-pointer with 1:06 remaining until halftime.

In between Olson's free throws and his final 3 of the half, the Wildcats (24-5, 10-3) reeled off 22 straight points to turn a meager one point deficit to an 18 point halftime lead. The Wildcats went up 20 on their first possession of the second half and the game was outreach for Lake Region State.

"We just missed shots," Marshall said when asked if North Dakota State College of Science was doing anything defensively that caused the struggles. "I think the big thing was that LaMarr (Wood) didn't get a touch for awhile there and a lot of our stuff revolves around him getting touches.

"We just kind of went dry and they got hot. It was a perfect storm kind of thing."

Wood scored 16 points, going 7-for-11 from the field and Jordan Lynn scored 13 points and had four rebounds for Lake Region State who lost to the Wildcats by eight in their previous meeting in January.

Seven players scored in double figures for the Wildcats, led by Jordan Polynice's 17 points. Polynice also had seven rebounds and six assists.