ADAMS — It's been a good start to a busy week for the Southland Rebels boys basketball team with back-to-back wins.
The latest victory for the Rebels came on Tuesday night at home against Dover-Eyota. The Rebels led early, then had to rally late for a 67-57 win over the D-E Eagles.
At one point in the first half, the Rebels led by 15 and their lead was still in double-digits at halftime. The second half was a different story as the Eagles came back to tie the game with eight minutes left. The Rebels then hit their free throws down the stretch to seal the deal.
"It was a good battle, we played a fullcourt press and created havoc in the first half," Southland coach Jon Thalberg said. "We got some easy baskets and took an 11-point lead into halftime. They made a run and tied it at 48-all with eight minutes left, but we did a nice job of hitting our free throws at the end."
Chris May had another monster night with a game-high 31 points for the Rebels. He canned a 3-pointer and had 13 of his game-high total in the first half.
ADVERTISEMENT
Sophomore center Nate Vang of D-E had 18 points in the first meeting of the season between the two teams, but this time the Southland defense held him to half that total.
"They have 6-foot-8 kid (Vang) and he hurt us last time, so I challenged the guys not to let him get easy baskets," Thalberg said. "Chris played lights out to help us stay on top. He took a beating from their defense and hit the floor a few times, but he played with a lot of heart and soul."
The Eagles made their comeback by hitting bombs from beyond the 3-point arc. D-E had nine treys on the night. It was a long ball that tied the game with eight minutes to play.
Balance was the key to victory in the final hectic minutes of the Three Rivers Conference game. Alan May and Mike Goergen each added 10 points in the home win.
"The kids all played hard and both sides were tired at the end," the coach concluded. "We went at them and had some three-point plays in the first half, but our shots weren't falling in the second half. They got hot from the arc and kept it close, then our guys rose to the challenge to pull it out."
Southland (13-9, 10-7 TRC) travels to Preston on Friday night for a conference game against Fillmore Central.
SOUTHLAND 67, DOVER-EYOTA 57
DOVER-EYOTA (57)
ADVERTISEMENT
Blair Johnson 9, Tyler Wegner 4, Luke Wilder 8, Nate Vang 9, Tysen Mayer 12, Ryan Hartman 15.
SOUTHLAND (67)
Chris May 31, Alan May 10, Zach Heimer 5, Sam Noterman 4, Nick Schmitz 2, Clint Bergene 5, Mike Goergen 10.
Halftime:Southland 35, D-E 24.
Free throws: DE 6-9, Southland 14-23.
Three-pointers:DE 9 (Johnson 1, Wegner 1, Wilder 2, Mayer 4, Hartman 1). SOU 1 (C.May 1).
