Lake Region men grind out three wins in three days at home

Article by Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal Sports, published Nov. 16, 2015.

The Lake Region State College men's basketball team went through an early-season gauntlet this last weekend. But the Royals made it through the gauntlet unscathed, winning three games in three days in the first annual Sleep Inn Classic at the Devils Lake Sports Center.

LRSC beat Northeast Community College (Neb.) 119-111 in overtime Friday, Miles City Community College (Mont.) 84-81 Saturday and Northland Community College (Minn.) 83-68 on Sunday.

Including Wednesday's win against Trinity Bible College, the Royals earned four victories in five days.

"I told them this is our toughness week," Royals head coach Jared Marshall said. "One of our goals is to win the region and get to the national tournament. And if you want to make any noise in a tournament, you're going to have to win three games in three days. Couldn't be prouder of my guys."

LRSC showed its grit and toughness Friday and Saturday.

Friday's game against Northland went into overtime after the Royals gave up a 90-83 lead with under four minutes to go.

Shorthanded with key players fouled out, LRSC went to its sophomore post player Ryan Clark. Clark, who finished with 30 points and 16 rebounds, scored eight of those points in overtime to lead the Royals to the 119-111 win.

Coming off the emotional win, the Royals had to battle until the end Saturday against Mile City. LRSC never trailed in the second half, but had to fend off the pesky Pioneers as they kept it a one-possession ball game until the final buzzer.

The Royals needed clutch free throws in the final minute to guide them to an 84-81 win.

AJ Nywesh led all scorers with 25 points and Dawson Peterson recorded a double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds. 

"I think last year we lost to Northeast by a combined 50 points the two times we played them," Marshall said. "It's always a quality opponent. That was a heckuva win. And then Miles, too. Just battling down to the wire and I just had a good feeling we were going to pull that one out."

To cap off the weekend, LRSC had just enough left in the tank to hold off Northland in the 83-68 win. 

Clark added another double-double with 14 points and 15 rebounds. Ben Rennie shot 8-of-12 for 25 points and Nywesh added 18 points while dishing out five assists.

The Royals were well-balanced all weekend, with three players in double-digit points Friday, five on Saturday and four on Sunday.

"Those four sophomores have been really good for us," Marshall said. "I think we have seven different guys in averaging double digits right now. It shows you the kind of offense we run and how good we are at sharing the ball and playing as a team."

LRSC improves to 6-1 on the season and travels Wednesday to face Concordia College.