Lancers Look to Bounce Back After Well Fought Battle With Casper's Thunderbirds
The Lancers found themselves with mixed emotions after they suffered a loss to the high flying Casper Thunderbirds by a score of 62 – 77. The Lancers night was mixed with an efficient showing from mid-range 2s, but some defensive struggles as spoken about by Lancer's Head Coach, Bill Engel.
Coach Engel made 1 change to his starters lineup from last week's game against Northwest, with Vukasin Spasojevic coming in for Jouk Mayan
First Half: Thunderbirds 40 – 30 Lancers
The first half showing was eventful for spectators, being treated to a lot of end to end action. Both sides showed spirit and grit during the first half, with a noticeable impression being made by Thunderbirds number 4, Abdul Bashir. Ranked 2nd in the nation, he gave the Lancer supporters a reason to believe that with multiple 3 attempts finding their way to the basket. The Lancers were often quick to respond, showing a good chemistry in the team, using good ball movement to attack in the paint and in the mid-range. Both teams went into half time seemingly happy with their respective performances, despite the weaker showings in certain areas for both teams.
Second Half: Thunderbirds 37 – 32 Lancers (77 – 62 Final)
The second half brought yet more action for the Lancer supporters eager for action. The Thunderbirds ended up capitalizing on the momentum they gained in the first half and continued with their impressive shooting, most notably from the free throw line. When given the opportunity from the line, the Thunderbirds made sure they seized the opportunity, by putting 17 out of their 19 attempts successfully down, giving an impressive 89.5%. Both teams, however, had flurries of brilliance. For the Lancers a stand out performer was number 11, Jaironn Speights, showing his fantastic ability with a fade-away mid-range shot, something that brought him great success on multiple occasions. There was also visibly a lot of hard work going into the game, none perhaps more than number 24, Vukasin Spasojevic. Spasojevic had tremendous effort rewarded offensively and defensively, with 8 total rebounds along with 9 points and 2 steals. A solid all round performance earning him Lancer of the Match.
Final Thoughts:
Both teams will be coming away from tonight's game with aspects they feel they did well and can improve on. For both teams it was far from perfect for either team, with a constant show of defensive determination and at times obliterating offense which caught defences lacking. The Lancers can take confidence in frustrating Casper's Thunderbirds for large portion of the matches and use this to get a result in tomorrow's game against Western Wyoming Community College.