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Versailles
sophomore Kyle Arhens gets a left handed dunk after a missed
shot
Friday against New Bremem. The Tigers held off the Cardinals 72-63
in
a crucial MAC game in The Jungle. CNO photos by Dylan Knoop
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Versailles has rough time with New Bremen
Cardinals push Tigers to the limit
By George Starks
VERSAILLES- It’s no secret that no lead is ever safe. Especially in the
MAC.
Versailles held what looked like a commanding 39-23 lead at the break
Friday against New Bremen but the Cardinals weren’t about to roll over
for the Tigers.
Getting as close as five points to Versailles in the fourth quarter,
the Tigers had to run hard before taking a 72-63 MAC victory.
“No lead is ever safe in this conference,” said Versailles coach Scott
McEldowney. “This team is solid and I think they are every bit as good
as what Celina was (W, 71-67). This team might be a little bigger but
there are a lot of similarities.”
It didn’t take long to see that 16 point half-time lead disappear in
the third quarter as the Cards had cut the lead in half, trailing by
only a 50-42 count.
Putting the gears back into motion, the Tigers opened up a 56-42
advantage to start the final eight minutes but New Bremen was not about
to roll over for anyone, especially Versailles.
With 3:18 remaining, Cardinal senior Luke Schweiterman hit in the paint
and the once 14 point lead had been trimmed to five at 62-57.
“This team really comes after you and tries to take you out of your
offense,” said McEldowney. “They took quite a few charges with us on
offense and we knew that was their game plan. We knew they would do
these things and when we are in full motion going to the bucket, we
don’t slow down. Tonight we got hit with a lot of charging fouls.”
With Kyle Arhens leading the was with 22 points and two thunder dunks,
the last to close out the game, Chad Winner dropped in 17 and Damien
Richard added 15 in support.
The difference maker was Nick Campbell who netted only eight but hit
some crucial shots for Versailles.
“We continue to get big help in other areas from some people and we’re
going to continue to need to do that,” McEldowney stated. “Evan Phlipot
hit a couple of big shots when his man was helping down low; we were
able to kick it to the elbow at him. I think we have a good supporting
cast.”
The win put the Tigers at 2-0 0n the season as Versailles battled
Covington Saturday.
Versailles will be at New Knoxville and Lehman Catholic next Friday and
Saturday before hosting the Tigers Holiday Tournament on December 28-29.
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Jacob
Heitkamp attempts to score as New Bremen's Parker Manger looks to make
the block.
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