STMA Boys Basketball

The STMA boys cagers roared out of the gate, scoring 45 points in the first half, and pouring in 43 more in the second half, despite clearing the bench, to win 88-63.  The M and M boys, Michael Mooney and Michael Wiese, led scorers with 30and 17 respectively. 

The defense was a bit shaky in the first half, and Becker drew close at the half after trailing by as much as 15 points.  Leading 45-40 at the half, the Knights clamped down defensively, holding Becker to 20 points and frustrating one of their leading scorers, Damien Reinke, who fouled out and only scored 9 for the Bulldogs. 

            The Knights shot 48 percent from the floor, with 55% on twos.  Those percentages mean lots of assists, and Wiese led the team with an incredible 9.  Max Babb contributed four assists, while Mooney and Cole Krutzig earned three apiece.  Krutzig wowed the crowd midway through the second half when he pulled down four consecutive offensive rebounds on the same possession, the sequence that led to Becker’s loss of heart and the runaway victory.  One of the smaller men on the court, he skied for two of the four rebounds.  Herbert Tarpeh played a strong game once again with 14 points and 8 boards.  Erik Johnson dumped in 9 points, and freshman Jackson Greenwaldt came off the bench to play the final six minutes and added 7.  As a team, the Knights out-rebounded the Bulldogs 42-31.  The Dogs got balanced scoring from four of their starters, with Reinke’s 12 added to by Tommy Benson’s 14, Joel Hopkins’ 13, and Andrew Reid’s 10, but the stifling defense almost completely shut them out in the second half.

            The Knights have a big weekend coming up next, with a tough battle against conference rival Buffalo on the road Friday January 20, and then the long trip to Moorhead for a game on Saturday the 21^st.