Last Thursday, the Becker boys basketball team downed the Zimmerman Thunder, 76-63, to claim possession of second place in the Mississippi 8 Conference.

Becker point guard Troy Nuest was the catalyst early, as he started the game with a pair of steals, two rebounds and the first four points of the game.

The Thunder kept the game close in the first half through their offensive rebounding, grabbing 10 off the glass, and entered intermission with a 35-32 lead.

However, the Bulldogs responded after halftime to take control of the game.

“I’m proud of the boys for responding at halftime and they competed with toughness in the second half,” Coach Cory Nuest said.  “The victory moved us into the number three seed in the Section and more importantly, sets us up to be playing our best basketball heading into the end of the season.”

Nathan Weiss scored all of his 19 points in the second half, while Bryce Paumen added 18 points and 12 boards.  Landon Peterson chipped in 10 points, while Sawyer Brown added 19 points and 10 assists in a double-double effort for the Dogs.  Nuest finished the game with nine points and eight rebounds, as he continued to post impressive work on the glass from his guard position.

Vs. Tigers

Tuesday night, Becker avenged an early season loss against the Princeton Tigers and came away with a 80-55 win on the road.  The Tigers had scored 94 points against Becker earlier in the season so Nuest and his team set a goal to keep their opponent under 65 in this rematch.

The Dogs surpassed that goal and picked up their fifth straight conference win.

Nuest credited his team’s balanced approach, as the Bulldogs racked up assist after assist, with Weiss, Brown and Peterson scoring early buckets.

Becker trailed 18-20 when Troy Nuest had a key steal that spurred a slurry of steals and transition baskets, with Peterson going on to dish out a pair of assists.  Isiah Boyer grabbed a couple of rebounds and fed Paumen on a nice assist as part of the 9-0 run, which saw Becker take a 34-25 halftime lead.  

Paumen would score 18 of his 24 points in the opening half for the Dogs, while Sawyer Brown came out of the halftime locker room with intensity and scored 17 of his 23 points in the final half of play.  

Weiss added 14 for the Bulldogs.