Cyclones get costly victory over Monarchs
The Cyclones overcame injuries to key players Friday night, but still came away with a 63-49 victory over the Denison Monarchs.
In the second quarter of Friday's home game against the Denison Monarchs, Senior Brehden Eggerss exited the game due to a hand injury, followed by Junior Jozef Reisz exiting in the fourth quarter due to a dislocated shoulder.
"Eggerss, getting hurt, gets tackled and taken down is ridiculous, " said Cyclone Head Coach Mitch Osborn. "It's not looking good. Jozef Reisz has a dislocated shoulder. He's had that before. Got it popped back in, but he has a torn labrum. He's trying to play through it, and hopefully he can continue. We'll see if he can on Tuesday."
The Cyclones came out of the gate strong going on an 11-0 run with a shot from Eggerss, back-to-back 3-pointers from Reisz, and then another bucker from Eggerss before Senior Monarch Jake Fink got his team on the board.
"I feel like we were just attacking the ball, and finding open shots," said Senior Cyclone Jason Erlemeier. "It really just helped when we penetrated and got in there. If it was open for a layup, we took it or if it was open for a three, we shot it."
Reisz added another bucket, followed by Eggerss knocking down a shot from 3-point range and Erlemeier making a bucket, the Cyclones took a 21-11 lead into the second quarter.
In the second quarter, the Cyclones continued to keep their foots on the gas pedal with shots Erlemeier and Junior Ben Leinen at one point forcing Monarch head coach Derek Fink to call a timeout with his team trailing by eight.
Senior Monarch Easton Emery hit a buzzer beater to end the first half with the Cyclones up 35-24 heading into the locker room.
"We needed to keep doing the same thing, keep attacking, playing solid defense, and taking care of the ball," Erlemeier said.
The third quarter opened with both teams exchanging buckets, until late in the quarter, Senior Cyclone Quinn Koesters capped off an 8-1 run, with shots from Leinen and Senior Will Arkfeld, giving the Cyclones a 51-33 lead entering the final quarter.
Erlemeier opened the fourth quarter with a big shot from 3-point range, but soon after a bucket from Senior Monarch Luke Wiebers, Osborn called a timeout with five and a half minutes remaining in the game.
When play resumed, Erlemeier hit another 3-pointer, but the Monarchs turned the tables briefly on the Cyclones going on a 5-0 run. The Cyclones put a stop to the Monarch run when Erlemeier missed a shot, but Reisz was there to grab the rebound and score, putting the Cyclones up 15, and getting the Cyclone fan base on its feet.
A few more shots were added by the Cyclones on free throw attempts from Koesters and Leinen, and the Cyclones hung on for the 63-49 victory, their second win of the season, after dropping their previous game to the Kuemper Catholic Knights.
"It was a great win," Osborn said. "It's good to see Erlemeier, Arkfeld hit 3's, and we had balanced scoring, all guys contributing. It was great to see Jozef Reisz hitting those 3's in the corner. We got an 11-0 run right away and got a fast start, and held on."
The Cyclones will head out on the road Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. to take on the 2-2 Glenwood Rams. The Rams are led by Kayden Anderson with 57 points, averaging 14.3 per game, and 23 assists, along with Kasey Godbout with 28 rebounds.
"You're on the road, and it's extremely tough at their place," Osborn added. "They're very physical, and we're going to have to step up and play extremely tough. Our shot selection needs to be really good when we go down there."