Sophomore guard Robby Hanzlik scored a career-high 23 points for the Grizzlies.Lopers shoot lights out in 10-point win
December 11, 2009Hanzlik's career-high 23 not enough for ASC
ALAMOSA, Colo.— Sophomore guard Max Froehlich dropped four 3-pointers and finished with a career-high 30 points and eight assists as the University of Nebraska-Kearney Lopers shot 56.4 percent (31-55) from the field and a blistering 62.5 percent (10-16) from 3-point land to claim an 86-76 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference road win over the host Adams State College Grizzlies, Friday night in Plachy Hall.
The Lopers, who have lost just once to the Grizzlies and never on Adams State’s campus, also blocked 10 Grizzly shots as they overcame 19 turnovers while holding the host team to a season-low 34.7 percent (25-72) effort from the field.
Senior center Josiah Parker, a 6-foot-10, 240-pounder, had four of those blocked shots and finished with 18 points and eight rebounds for the Lopers, who improved to 6-3 overall and to 2-1 in RMAC action.
The Grizzlies got a career-high 23 points from Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.) and an impressive 19-point, 8-rebound effort from junior Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.) but fell to 3-5 overall and to 1-2 in conference play with their fifth loss in the last six games.
The Grizzlies led by as many as 10 points just after the mid-point of the first half thanks to a 10-2 run capped by a Nate Ingbrestson (Castle Rock, Colo.) trey but watched the Lopers go on a 16-1 run over the next 6:32 to take a 5-point lead with 3:22 to go in the first half on Parker bucket.
The Grizzlies did battle back to within 37-35 at the break and tied the game on a Hanzlik bucket on the opening possession of the second stanza before the Lopers quickly darted out to a 57-43 lead thanks to a 20-6 spurt that featured 3-pointers from three different shooters— Froehlich, Chris Deans and Brian Ridgeway.
Those tallies helped Deans and Ridgeway reach double figures as Deans, like Froehlich, was 4-for-5 from beyond the arc, en-route to 14 points. He also had seven rebounds off the bench.
Ridgeway added 11 points in the victory.
Up 69-54 with 9:25 to go, the Lopers suddenly got sloppy as they committed turnovers on four straight possessions as the Grizzlies scored the next 10 points to close to within 69-63 with 7:57 left.
Down by the same margin with 6 ½ minutes to go, the Lopers then got a clutch 3-pointer from Jeremy Cruise off a Froehlich pass as they built the lead back up to 10 points.
The Grizzlies never seriously threatened again as the Lopers did enough from the free throw line and defensively to hold on to the victory.
The Lopers shot at an impressive 61.5 percent (16-26) clip from the field in the second half although they finished with just six offensive rebounds. The Grizzlies grabbed 16 but only managed nine second-chance points as the poor Grizzly shooting was too much for the home team to overcome.
The Grizzlies, who had averaged 18.3 turnovers per game coming in, committed just eight, the team’s fewest since Feb. 5, 2008 when the Grizzlies were guilty of just six against Colorado State-Pueblo.
Ingbretson also had the best game of his season hitting four treys en-route to a season-high 16 points.
The Grizzlies will have little time to regroup as they host Chadron State on Saturday night at 8 p.m. The Eagles lost an 89-71 decision at Fort Lewis on Friday night and are now 3-6 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC.
Tip-off for the Eagle and Grizzly clash can be heard live on KSPK-FM (104.1 in Alamosa) and via the internet at www.kspk.com.
Related Item: Online Photo Store Gallery
