So often, the Lake Region State College men’s basketball will fight and rattle off some good stretches, but fall in the end as its opponent outpaces it. And Sunday’s game was just another example of that, a showcase in how talented this team is yet how direly it struggles to pull out victories.
The Royals (8-20, 4-15) hit a game-tying three at the buzzer of the first half and kept the margin close in the second half, but ultimately fell 84-78 to Miles Community College (14-14, 10-9) at Devils Lake Sports Center.
“I told the guys after, we played really hard. We did good,” head coach Jared Marshall said. “Little things made the difference. We didn’t come up with some 50-50 balls, turnovers, things like that. That was the difference in a game like that.”
While the second half was a nail-biter, the first half was a stretch of runs. The Pioneers got out to a 7-0 lead, with Miles blocking well and getting the ball to the rim.
But free throws, along with baskets by Blessed Barhayiga, Ginuwine Tropnas and Jordan Willis, trimmed the gap to 13-11. Aguir Dawam squeezed through LRSC’s defense to make a dunk, but the Royals tied it on a free throw by Tropnas and took a one-point lead on a free throw by Willis.
“I thought our 12 press that we got into really helped us crawl back into it,” Marshall said. “We were able to get some steals, get some energy going our way. I thought that shifted things for us.”
By the 12:26 mark, each team had 17 fouls. The Royals were complaining about some of the foul calls early on — especially Tropnas, who, in the latter part of the first half, insisted that he didn’t reach when a foul was called on him. He shouted an expletive and did a lap around the bench before collecting himself.
“Part of it is just us making better decisions,” Marshall said. “A couple times we had great traps, and then instead of just being solid, we reached or hit them or slapped them or whatever.”
After LRSC led 15-14, Miles had a run that put it up 23-15. And it looked like it might be the kind of game that the Royals’ opponent runs away with early. The Pioneers were consistently finding ways to get to the rim and getting around LRSC’s guards.
“We kept trying to switch our defense on them and keep giving them different looks so they never got comfortable,” Marshall said. “But I don’t feel like we did anything to really stop that tonight. I thought they were getting downhill on us at will. We just weren’t winning our one-on-one battles.”
The Royals clawed back to make it a four-point deficit at 25-21, then had the ball stolen and committed a foul. Marshall bellowed “We can’t give it right back to them!” from the sideline.
Barhayiga had five straight points to keep the gap close. He led the team with 25 overall. Noah Bonick made a three that cut the deficit to 39-37, and later made two free throws that kept LRSC within a 42-41 margin. Down 44-41 on the last possession of the half, Bonick swished a three right at the buzzer.
After all the Royals had been through in the half, it was knotted up at 44 apiece. Bonick ended up scoring 20 points in the game.
“Outside of Noah, we only got one bucket from our guards. And so we need to get some help,” Marshall said. “And if Noah’s not going, we’re not scoring on the guards, it really struggles… If he’s not scoring, it really, really hurts our bigs and their ability to get open and get touches.”
Barhayiga made the Royals’ first two baskets of the second half, helping them get out to a 48-45 lead. But they had some rebounded shots roll off the rim, and Miles scored five straight. Rihards Porietis and Barhayiga each scored a game-tying shot, but the Pioneers began to steadily outpace the Royals. They led 57-53, and eventually 70-65.
Barhayiga helped keep things close at 75-69 and 77-73. Drew Bordeaux shot a three in the final minutes, but it wasn’t enough as five straight free throws helped keep it a two-possession game for Miles. There was nothing the Royals could do on the final play, and they had to let the clock come to its inevitable stopping point.
“We’re right there,” Marshall said. “One decision here or there. One play goes their way that doesn’t go our way; that’s kind of been the difference all year for us.”
The Royals only have two games left in the regular season, one at home on Wednesday and the finale on the road on Sunday.
“I attribute a lot to this team,” Marshall said. “It’s not the year we wanted, but they’re still playing hard.”
