Balvanz Knocks Down 9 Threes; Lions Take Down NCU
PORTLAND, Ore. - Not 6....Not 7.... Not 8.... but 9 three pointers belonged to Grant Balvanz on Friday night in the Lions victory over NCU. The Lions (14-13, 7-10 CCC) showed their offensive firepower against the Beacons (14-13, 9-8 CCC) in a game where both teams pushed the tempo and knocked down three after three, but the Lions ultimately walked away with a 118-89 victory.
With Zach Richardson's season coming to an end because of injury, even more pressure was put on the Lions to make up for the 15.2 points lost from their sharpshooting sophomore in the starting lineup. Tonight, Grant Balvanz stepped up and had the hot hand for the Lions, scoring all 27 of his points form beyond the arc.
After scoring 74 in the Lions' previous matchup with the Beacons, Justin Martin made winning plays on the floor as a primary play maker and a distributor tonight finishing with 35 points, 10 assists, and 3 steals.
Forrest Smith double-doubled for the Lions in a game where they needed his rebounding the most, and he finished with 19 points, 13 rebounds, and 2 assists. Freshman guard Jaeden Ingram played like a senior for the Lions, racking up 16 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in a selfless effort. Stepan Zavvydovskyy just missed a double-double as he finished with 9 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 blocks. Trey Fountain gave the Lions the leadership they were looking for and forced the Beacons into mismatch after mismatch, and the senior point guard finished with 12 point and 8 assists.
Coach Bickley was proud of the Lions effort, and ecstatic at the way they shot the ball from deep, " Great team win! Grant was huge off the bench and all our assists show how much we moved the ball. Our shooting was outstanding."
The Lions finished with 26 assists compared to the 18 of NCU.
NCU stuffed the stat sheet with 6 players scoring in double figures. Dyshawn Hobson scored 18 points, with 7 rebounds and 7 assists. Riley Anderson scored 15 points, while Logan Davis scored 13 points and dished out 8 assists. Kaden Sand scored 12 points while teammates Ernest Ugoagu and Stevie Schlabach dropped in 11 points each.
The Lions return to action tomorrow night against the Corban Warriors at 7:30 PM.