Basketball tourney Feb. 26-28

By Jason Williams
Contributing Writer

Baseball may have started up, but the Men's Basketball team is still going strong as they move into first place.

As the second half of conference play starts, the Blazers beat Richland 89-88 with Jermaine Smith and Ryan Pryor leading the way for the Blazers. With 0.7 seconds left in the game, Jared Lappa hit two free throws to secure the win.

North Lake beat Richland twice this year for the first time in two years. Also in conference play, the Blazers lost to Cedar Valley, 67-59, to move their record to 15-11 overall and 5-3 ,which is second best in the conference.

Last Wednesday night, Feb. 19, the Blazers took on the Brookhaven Bears in a big game. The Blazers jumped out to a big lead as Billy Hohensee hustled to help the Blazers to a half-time lead of 40-31.

Jermaine Smith dominated inside at the start of the second half as North Lake went up 57-48 with 10.56 minutes left in the game. The Blazers kept the pressure on the Bears and forced them to call time out with 3.34 minutes left, ending the game 75-64.

The Bears made a run with 2.24 minutes left in the game to bring the score to 77-69.

Greg Baker fouled out the game with 2.16 minutes left. The Bears pulled closer and forced the Blazers to call time out with 1.34 minutes in the contest and a score of 77-72. With 20.0 seconds, the Blazers were up 77-75 when Beau Fredrichsen went to the free throw line. One of his two free throws put the Blazers up by three.

Jermaine Smith grabbed a rebound and got fouled, sending him to the free throw line 5.1 seconds. He hit one free throw to seal the deal for the Blazers, 79-75, who moved their record to 16-11 overall and 6-3 in conference. The win created a three way tie between Richland, Cedar Valley and North Lake.

The Blazers conference tournament starts on Wednesday, Feb. 26, so come out and support the Men’s Basketball team.