Riverland men fall short at home
Published 6:22 pm Saturday, November 12, 2011
Riverland’s Jeff Clark-Neal dribbles the ball up the court during the Blue Devils’ 72-62 loss to Western Wisconsin Tech in Riverland Gym Saturday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
The Riverland men’s basketball team couldn’t find an answer for Western Wisconsin Tech’s zone defense in a 72-63 loss in Riverland Gym Saturday.
The Blue Devils (2-2 overall) fired up 29 three-pointers and hit just seven of them and they shot 33 percent from the field in the loss.
Riverland's Keith Thames shoots a three-pointer over WWT's Brandon Jones in Riverland Gym Saturday. -- Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“We knew they would come out in a zone, we just didn’t move the basketball,” RCC head coach Scott Koenigs said. “We have a transition offense that we put in and we just didn’t’ do it. We took a step back and we played the poorest game we’ve played all year.”
RCC beat WWT last week, but this time around it’s leading scorer Zach Bunch was not 100 percent healthy. He didn’t score in the first half as he was dealing with an injury he sustained in practice.
“He didn’t look like the same Zach Bunch, and he’s our ignition,” Koenigs said. “He can beat people one-on-one two or set up other people.”
Bunch, who finished with 14 points, showed a burst for a portion in the second half, when he had two breakaway scores and hit a three during a 14-3 Riverland run that saw the Devils go up 48-45 with 12:51 left in the game.
The Cavs took over at that point as they hit four threes during a 14-0 run over the next five minutes.
RCC never got closer than nine the rest of the way.
RCC scoring: Zach Bunch, 14; Taylor Morgan, 13; Marcus Ratliff, 10; Jeff Clark-Neal, 7; Brandon Sims, 5; Keith Thames, 5; Wayne Canady, 5; Shane Barry, 2; Andrew Kaiser, 2; field goals: 33 percent (22-for-67); three-pointers: 24 percent (7-for-29); free throws: 80 percent (12-for-15); rebounds: 31 (Ratliff, 9; Bunch, 8); turnovers: 15
