The Becker Bulldog boys basketball team rallied to crush the Milaca Wolves by 21 Tuesday night at home as the team improved to 2-2 on the year under new head coach Josh Ihrke.
Final score, Becker 75, Milaca 54.
Senior guard Josh Nohner led the Bulldogs with 17 points including going four-for-six from the three point line. Nohner also finished with four assists and one rebound.
Michael Veldman had 10 points, three assists, two rebounds and made five of his six shots from the floor.
Milaca’s Mike Garber led the Wolves with 12 points.
The game was tight throughout the first half with the Bulldogs clinging to a small lead at halftime, 34-31. The team emerged from the break and with great hustle and sound bench play, they went on a tear that the Wolves were never able to overcome.
Players such as Andrew Davalos (6 points), Tyler Kruse (6), Jon Crowley (5) and Andrew Stanger (6) provided the spark in the second half that helped propel Ihrke’s squad to a .500 record.
Becker scoring:
Nohner 17; Veldman 10; Dawson Brown 9, Cole Anderson 8, Davalos 6, Kruse 6, Stanger 6, Crowley 5, Zack Moeller 4, Jake Fobbe 2 and Clayton Gallus 2.
Milaca scoring: Garber 12, Trevor Roelofs 10, Cameron Sundberg 8, Levi Hunt 7, Matt VanSomeran 6, Nick Wolbert 5, Justin Fransen 4 and Jeson Erickson 2.
Thunder 70, Bulldogs 62
Zimmerman got half their scoring from one player (Kristian Bright, 35) and the Bulldogs lost their second game of the year at home last Friday by eight.
Nohner led the Bulldogs with 21 points followed by Veldman with 10. The team was playing their first home game of the year after losing their valued friend and teammate Anthony Nelson to a car accident five days earlier.
The Bulldogs have decided to wear bright, neon green socks in honor of their fallen teammate and students and fans came out in droves in their brightest green displays to pay tribute to Nelson.
Becker’s Blake Barthel — who received a thunderous applause from the fan faithful when he entered the game, finished his night going three-of-three from the field including two three-pointers to keep the game close. He finished with eight points and had one steal.
The Bulldogs out-rebounded the Thunder (22-18), had more assists (17 to 14) and had eight steals to zero for Zimmerman, but they couldn’t find a way to stop Bright from dominating the rim as he scored on nine of his 10 shots on the night.
Becker scoring:Nohner 21, Veldman 10, Barthel 8, Erik Tungland 6, Cole Anderson 6, Dawson Brown 5, Tyler Kruse 4, and Jon Crowley 2.
Zimmerman scoring: Bright 35, Max Mcnulty 9, Taylor McEachern 7, Derek Williams 5, Tyler Theisen 4, David Molinari 4, Mack Riley 3 and Noah Lunning 3.
The Bulldogs took on Big Lake Friday night at home (full report on game in next week’s Citizen), then host Albany Thursday at 7:30 p.m.
