The Lyon College men’s basketball team and Harris-Stowe exchanged runs all throughout their American Midwest Conference (AMC) game on Saturday afternoon inside Becknell Gymnasium, but it was the Hornets who had the final run and picked up an 83-64 win over the Scots.
Lyon College dropped to 9-10, 6-5 AMC, while the Hornets improved to 11-7, 8-3 AMC.
GAME FLOW
The opening half posed as a game of runs between two evenly matched teams. The Hornets got on the board first with two quick buckets to take a 4-0 lead. The Scots quickly answered back to tie the game at 6-6 after four straight points from Justas Narusas and a free-throw from Antanas Krimelis. With the game tied at 9-9, the Hornets used a 9-4 run to take an 18-13 advantage over the Scots, capped off by a three-pointer from Denzel Smith with 10:58 left in the half.
During the middle portion of the first half, it was the Scots who found themselves with a big run of their own. Faris Verlasevic got the Scots going offensively with a pair of hook shots in the lane. Robinson and Krimelis combined for the Scots’ next nine points that capped off a 15-4 run and gave Lyon a 28-22 lead. The Hornets closed the first half with a 14-2 run to take a 36-30 lead into the half.
The Hornets carried their momentum from the end of the first half into the start of the second half and built their lead to 54-37 after a basket from Samuel Egedi with 13:48 left to play.
Narusas started a late comeback attempt by the Scots with a three-pointer from the wing ahead of five consecutive points from Emir Sabic. After a free-throw from Krimelis, Narusas knocked down another three to trim the deficit to single-digits. Robinson brought the Scots within seven at 70-63 with a tough contested layup, but that would be as close as the Scots would get as the Hornets pulled away late for the win.
KEY STATISTICS
– For the second time this week, Robinson paced the Scots in scoring as he finished with 19 points. Narusas netted 12 points, while Sabic chipped in 10 points.
– Robinson finished 6-of-10 from the field and a perfect 7-of-7 from the charity stripe.
– Smith finished with a game-high 23 points to lead the Hornets.
WHAT’S AHEAD FOR THE SCOTS
The Scots will hit the road again and travel to Hannibal, Mo., for an AMC contest at Hannibal-LaGrange on Jan. 18 at 7:30 p.m.
Image of Tyler Robinson jumper vs. Harris-Stowe via Lyon Athletics
