Cyclones finish off Titans at home
Senior Brad Curren scored 18 points to lead the way for the Cyclones en route to a 51-42 victory over the Lewis Central Titans at home Friday night.
“I thought tonight, we out-toughed them,” said Cyclones Head Coach Mitch Osborn. “I thought our rebounding and toughness inside was tremendous. I thought we did a great job.”
Junior Titan Nash Paulson opened the scoring on the night by hitting a 3-point shot. Soon after, Senior Jacob Birch answered him with a 3-pointer of his own.
Both teams were matching each other point-for-point, until Senior Jace Gubbels was fouled, missed his free throws, but Birch got the rebound, was fouled himself, sending him to the line where he made 1 of 2 free throws that helped give the Cyclones a 12-8 lead heading into the second quarter.
15 seconds into the quarter, Junior Franz Reisz was fouled, sending him to the line where he made 1 of 2 free throws. Less than a minute later, Birch made a mid-range jump shot, putting the Cyclones up by 8.
Paulson was fouled shortly after on a made shot, got the extra point, to put the Titans within 5 of the Cyclones. The Cyclones were starting to pull away when Birch was fouled with just under six minutes until halftime, making both free throws. Senior Teagon Kasperbauer was fouled on a made shot, missed the extra point, but helped his team to a 7-point lead heading into the locker room.
“There was ups and plenty of downs in the first half, so coming out of the half, we had plenty of things to improve upon and fixing those mistakes and that’s what mattered,” Kasperbauer said.
The Titans came out swinging to start the second half, dropping the first two buckets of the quarter and cutting the Cyclones lead to 4. Osborn immediately called a timeout.
When play resumed, both teams were in a close battle, but that changed when Junior Titan Jackson Larsen hit a 3-pointer tying the game at 31. That moment only lasted for a few seconds, when Curren put the Cyclones right back in front with a 3-pointer of his own.
Junior Titan Curtis Witte got his team back in the game with a 3-pointer, tying the game at 34. The Cyclones then took control going on an 8-0 run to close out the quarter that started with Gubbels getting a steal, running down court to drop in a layup that got the crowd to its feet. On the next possession, Kasperbauer made a 3-point shot and then made another one right after.
“The ups are pretty big, but everything else opened up for me, so that allowed everyone else to make great plays,” Kasperbauer said. “Coming into the fourth quarter, there was some fire and emotion, so that helped out a lot.”
The Titans fought back a little in the fourth quarter dropping the first two buckets, cutting the lead to 4. Titans head coach Ricky Torres called a timeout approaching the five minute mark.
When play resumed, Curren hit another 3-point shot, putting the Cyclones up by 5. Osborn called a timeout when the Titans cut the lead to 3. From that point on, the Cyclones didn’t look back, finishing out the game on a 6-0 run.
The Cyclones next three games will be on the road starting with a Tuesday night battle at 7:30 p.m. against the 7-12 Atlantic Trojans. The Trojans are led by Junior Colton Rasmussen with 332 points and Senior Carter Pellett with 186 rebounds and 48 assists.
“It’s always tough on the road,” Osborn said. “Our fans will travel and we have a big one starting in Atlantic. We had a tough game with them here. We need to bring the same intensity level here."