Lancers Hold Off Yellowjackets

BY SCOTT MORRISON
sports@yankton.net

After starting off in a 1-4 hole to begin the season, the Mount Marty Lancers men's basketball team found a way to capture a hard fought 64-59 victory against visiting Graceland University on Tuesday night at Laddie E. Cimpl Arena.

The Lancers (2-4) used key contributions from players coming of the bench and solid pressure from an experienced defense to disrupt a Yellowjacket team (1-4) that has been battling for confidence early in the season.

Both teams battled for control of the upper hand in the beginning portion of the game until midway through the first half when the Lancers gained the first sizable lead of the contest with a 14-3 run.

The run was sparked by sophomore guard Trey Krier who hit a jump shot just outside the paint only moments after coming into the game.

This was followed by three pointers from freshman guard Rudy Harper and senior guard Pat Anderson.

Senior forward Nathan Fischer added four consecutive points and freshman guard Weston Kusser added a bucket to give the Lancers a 31-20 lead.

The run was given life by the fresh legs of some younger players coming off the bench for the first time in the game.

The Lancers received nearly a third of their point production from off the bench. They had 20 total points off the bench in the game.

The Lancers shot 51.7% from the field in the half. Finding the open shots and running the floor helped to give them the 39-31 lead at the break.

"Our players coming of the bench helped us out a lot on the offensive side tonight," Lancer head coach Jim thorson said. "We know that we can shoot well as long as we are able to take care of the ball. We did that consistently in the first half."

In the second half the Yellowjackets came out strong with multiple runs that kept the game close. The Lancers had multiple opportunities to put the game away early, but struggled from the free-throw line down the stretch.

Graceland started the half by cutting the Lancer lead to five points at 47-42 as Tyson Meierotto scored four points during an 8-2 scoring run.

The Lancers quickly put a halt to the run as senior forward Alan Hough hit an uncontested three pointer an inbound play.

This helped to spark a Lancer run that gave them a ten point advantage at 59-49.

Again the Yellowjackets came roaring back to cut the lead to three at 59-56 thanks in part to four straight points from Chase Moore.

Two clutch free-throws from Hough, and a much needed steal from senior point guard Chris Filsinger gave the Lancers lead and the ball with under 1:00 to play in regulation.

The Lancers held onto the ball and closed out the victory.

Defense was a key to holding the lead throughout each attempt that Graceland made at the lead. The Lancers limited Graceland to only a small number of shots in the final minutes of the game.

"Defensively we came into the came thinking that we would be able to force turnovers and pressure the Graceland offense into making some mistakes,"
Thorson said. "We focused on adjusting to their offense and just taking something away from their attack."

Pat Anderson went 6-for-15 from the field to lead the Lancers with 18 points, but the surprise story was the emergence of Rudy Harper who was 3-for-4 from the field with 12 points.

"Rudy is getting accustomed to the physical aspect of this level. He is starting to get comfortable with blending into our offense," Thorson said.

With the win, the Lancers will have some much need momentum headed into Great Plains Athletic Conference play. This will begin at Sioux City, Iowa against Morningside College at 8:00 p.m. on November 28