Men's Basketball: Royals Rebound
After a slow start to conference play the Royals rebounded with a win over DCB this past Sunday at the Sportscenter.
After a slow start to conference play the Royals rebounded with a win over DCB this past Sunday at the Sportscenter.
Leading up to the game the Royals had dropped their previous 4 conference games.
Jan 24th vs. NDSCS: 87-53
Jan 28th vs. WSC: 79-75
Jan 31st @ DCC: 82-74
Feb 1st @ MCC: 87-76
In all but the NDSCS game the Royals were close and had their opportunities to win. NDSCS used a 28-2 second half run to pull away in a decisive victory over LRSC.
Standouts over those 4 games were Noah Bonick & Blessed Barhayiga who scored double digits in 3 out of the 4 games. Ginuwine Tropnas was another standout who put up a double double in games against Williston State and Miles Community College.
It all finally came together Sunday vs. DCB. LRSC took a slim 3pt lead into half time. Then came out of the locker room ready to make a statement. The Royals went on an 18-0 run to start the second half, to take control of the game and earn a 82-67 win over DCB.
Four Royals scored double figures. Blessed Barhayiga had 18pts and 14rebs. Drew Bordeaux scored 10pts. Noah Bonick came up just short of a double double with 11pts and 8rebs. Rihards Porietis exploded off the bench for 17pts.
The real story was the host of Royals defenders who guarded two of the top scorers in the league. Mat Mudingay, Alvin Jones, Noah Bonick, Harrison Raynor and Drew Bordeaux all took their turns guarding the duo of Groom and Redhead for DCB. Both players averaging over 20ppg were held to a combined 34 points on 38 shots.
Coach Marshall had this to say about the recent play of the Royals, “A bunch of credit goes to our guys. This season hasn’t exactly gone how we had hoped with our early success but these guys keep fighting. They haven’t quit and it takes a lot of toughness to continue to battle night in and night out when things aren’t going your way. It was great to see us put a full 40 minutes together against DCB. We had been so close in some of these other conference games. The team has been right there and a few lapses here or there have been the difference. I am hoping we will build on this win and make a nice run to end the season.”
The Royals are back in action Wednesday, February 7th vs. Williston State College. Both teams have split on the year winning one each.