ADAMS — The Southland boys played St. Charles in a Three Rivers Conference basketball game on Friday night and let a halftime lead slip away for a third straight loss.
After a solid first half in which they built a 12-point lead, the Southland Rebels fell apart in the second half. The St. Charles Saints came storming back to pull out a 69-65 road win.
St. Charles (9-9, 6-8 TRC) was led by Joseph Montgomery, who scored a game-high 20 points. This scoring total included six three-pointers on the night.
"In the first half, we looked pretty good and got a nice lead," Southland coach Jon Thalberg said. "Then, we didn't come out to play in the second half and flat out got our butts kicked. They hit a three-pointer to open the second half and it was all St. Charles after that."
Despite a double-double from Alan May with 18 points and 20 rebounds, the Rebels didn't have enough offense to stay with the Saints. Mike Goergen and Decker Bendtsen also scored in double figures for the Rebels.
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The visitors canned a total of eight treys and sent the home team to a second consecutive conference loss. With the loss, the Rebels fell back to a 7-7 record in the Three Rivers.
"They built the lead to 16 points in the second, then we had to foul," Thalberg said. "We put them on the line 28 times in the second half. The wheels just fell off the cart in the second and it was a frustrating loss."
May hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to make the final score a bit more respectable as the roller-coaster ride of a season continues. Southland is now 11-9 overall.
St. Charles 69, Southland 65
ST. CHARLES (69)
Joseph Montgomery 20, Joey Ellinghuysen 15, Brooks Grebin 15, Chris Bambenek 7, Will Swiggum 8, Aaron Leistikow 4.
SOUTHLAND (65)
Alan May 18, Mike Goergen 17, Decker Bendtsen 11, Sam Klaehn 6, Nick Schmitz 8, Jake Frodl 3, Sam Noterman 2.
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Halftime:SOU 34, STC 22.
Free throws:STC 17-33, SOU 5-10.
Three-point goals:STC 8 (Montgomery 6, Ellinghuysen 1, Grebin 1). SOU 4 (May 1, Bendtsen 1, Klaehn 1, Goergen 1).
