A day after falling in a tight 60-59 matchup with Dawson Community College, the Lake Region State College women’s basketball team bounced back on Thursday. The Royals edged out Miles Community College 56-50 in their second and final stop on a quick Montana road trip.
The men played Thursday as well and lost 87-76. It was another contest that was close until the end, when the Royals let it slip away.
In the women’s game, the Royals got off to a slow scoring start with only seven points in the first quarter. They trailed 27-24 at halftime. The third quarter was low scoring on both sides — 8-7 in favor of MCC — but LRSC rode a 25-15 fourth quarter to pull away with the victory.
Anisah Wolf led with 13 points off the bench, while Kyla Fitzgerald and Nicole Lillard each had 11. Tiyahna Trottier, who’s been on a strong streak of games, contributed nine points. The Pioneers made just 25.8% of their field goal attempts.
The third-place Royals have now won 12 of their last 14 games, boosting their overall record to 15-8 and conference record to 8-6.
The men, meanwhile, lost their seventh straight. They were tied 37-37 at halftime, but the Royals couldn’t keep up with the Pioneers in the second half. They were outscored 50-39 the rest of the way and lost by 11.
Noah Bonick had a great game for LRSC with 22 points and seven rebounds. Blessed Barhayiga had a 13-point game, while Ginuwine Tropnas had eight points and 11 rebounds. Alvin Jones Jr. also contributed 10 points off the bench. The Royals were better than MCC from deep — 9-of-16 compared to 3-of-17 — but the Pioneers made 45.9% of their field goal attempts compared to LRSC’s 34.3, which ultimately proved to be the difference. MCC also made seven more free throws.
The Royals’ men’s and women’s teams are trending in opposite directions heading into the final stretch of regular-season games. The women have redeemed themselves after a slow start, while the men struggled to extend a brief midseason boost into any kind of long-term streak. The men’s team is in danger of finishing in last place in the conference.
Joseph “Mojo” Hill is a reporter covering Lake Region sports for the Devils Lake Journal. Contact him on Twitter @mojohill22 or at jhill@devilslakejournal.com for any tips, questions or story ideas.
