The Becker Bulldogs boys basketball team sits at 5-4 on the season after coming up short in three games this past week.

Last Thursday, the Bulldogs traveled to Chisago Lakes and suffered a bit of a cold night shooting in a 67-54 loss.  The Bulldogs trailed 33-24 at halftime and shot just 42% from the field for the game.

“We just found ourselves getting into situations where their pressure forced us into bad offensive positions,” said Coach Josh Ihrke.  “When we were in control and moved the ball we had good looks.”

One area where the Wildcats had a big advantage was at the free throw line, as they went 14-for-18, whereas Becker was just 3-for-6.

The Wildcats also owned the inside, holding a 42-20 advantage in points in the paint.

“We need to continue to improve our offensive spacing,” added Ihrke.  “This was a game where we need to be better at understanding how to rely on team defense to get tough wins on the road.”

The turnover stat was dead even, with both teams giving it away 16 times.

Becker scoring: Alex Weiss 6 (five assists), Ryan Bengtson 2, Nick Knute 16 (six deflections), Hayden Harmoning 4 (three steals), Eric Seavert 20 (three assists), Brady Paumen six (seven rebounds).

OT Loss

Monday night, Becker hosted North Branch in a game that went to overtime with the Vikings coming out on top, 81-79.

It was a tale of two halves for the Bulldogs, who trailed 39-31 at halftime before coming back with a strong second half to force the game to extra minutes.  In the overtime period, the Vikings used a 7-5 scoring advantage to eke out the win.

Becker was led in scoring by Brady Paumen’s 22 points, while Nick Berglund had a very nice offensive effort to contribute 17.  Hayden Harmoning played his best offensive game of the season with 14 points, while Eric Seavert and Nick Knute each had 11 points to put five Bulldogs total in double figures in the game.   Alex Weiss and Carson Makarrall each chipped in a bucket to round out the scoring for Becker.

Cardinals loss

Tuesday night, Becker faced one of its best non-conference opponents of the year in the Annandale Cardinals and played a pretty even game, falling 52-60.

Becker’s scoring effort was more even than in recent games, as no Bulldog eclipsed the 20 point mark.

Leading the offensive effort was Seavert, who had 14 points, while Berglund continued his recent strong offensive performances by scoring 12.  Knute added eight points, while Weiss and Harmoning each had seven.  Paumen chipped in four to round out the Bulldog scoring line.

Becker will try to regroup Tuesday night at home with another matchup against the Wildcats, while Thursday evening they travel to Monticello, a team they edged by 3 points last month in Becker.