LRSC men’s solid performance falls short

Article by Sam Herder, Devils Lake Journal Sports, published Feb. 1, 2016

The conference record may have dipped to 3-4 for the Lake Region State College men's basketball team, but the Royals (18-7 overall) took a step in the right direction in Sunday's 76-75 loss to Williston State College (19-6, 5-3).

"I thought that was some of the best basketball we've played come conference season," LRSC head coach Jared Marshall said. "We may not be where we wanted to be in conference standings. But we took a big step forward. We're going to be a tough team come the regional tournament. We're just a play here or a play there."

LRSC gave itself a chance at the end after being down 11 with a little less than nine minutes to play. 

A Ryan Clark layup made it 76-70 with 50 seconds left. After AJ Nywesh hit two free throws, the Royals trapped the inbounds pass and got a jump-ball call with the possession arrow theirs down 76-72 with 11.6 seconds left.

Nywesh then nailed an unbalanced 3-pointer to pull within one point, but just 1.6 seconds remained.

LRSC fouled and the Tetons missed both free throws with 0.6 seconds on the clock as the rebound and heave from Clark didn't beat the clock.

"I just told them that let's get out there and give us a chance to win at the end," Marshall said. "Because our record late in games is pretty dang good. If we're close at the end of games, I feel we have a good chance."

LRSC looks to rebound Thursday at Dawson Community College. The Royals have five regular season games remaining.

"That's our first two-game losing streak of the year," Marshall said. "You go out and battle and you deserve to win a game, it just didn't go our way."