It was an exciting end to the game Last Thursday for the Becker Bulldog boys basketball team, as Nick Berglund hit a layup just ahead of the buzzer to lead the team to a 69-67 comeback win over the Cambridge-Isanti Bluejackets.

The Bulldogs actually led early in the game, but the Bluejackets battled back to take a lead until the final minutes, when Becker’s defense stiffened to give the team a chance.  

“We started off really well with a 15-3 lead early in the game,” coach Josh Ihrke said. “At the end of the game, we continued to put pressure on them and created three turnovers that led us to making a come back. It finished with Nick Berglund making the game winning layup after getting the steal as time expired.”

Becker’s early lead evaporated as the shots stopped falling and the Bluejackets took a two point lead into halftime, 34-32. The shooting woes were magnified by a difficult 4-for-21 performance for the Bulldogs from beyond the three point arc.

“Cambridge-Isanti continued to work and we were not able to make shots from the outside to stretch the lead,” Ihrke added. “They made us work and forced us out of our comfort zone.”

While the outside shots weren’t falling, the Bulldogs did assert themselves in the lane, where they hit better than 50% of their shots – 24-for-47. Becker had a huge advantage in points in the paint, outscoring their opponents 48-30.  The Bulldogs also dominated the boards, grabbing 47 rebounds to the Bluejackets’ 31.

“Brady Paumen had a big night finishing inside the lane,” Ihrke said. “His presence was a huge reason for us winning the game.”

Paumen finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds, while teammate Eric Seavert joined him in double figures with 21 points, three assists and four steals.

Becker scoring: Alex Weiss four (nine rebounds), Berglund four (four steals), Julias Hendricks six, Ryan Bengtson two, Hayden Harmoning four (seven rebounds), Seavert 21, Paumen 23, Carter Callahan five.

The win pushed the Bulldogs’ record to 8-3 overall, 2-1 in the Mississippi 8 Conference.  Tuesday night’s game against Bemidji was postponed, meaning the Bulldogs were to get on the road and travel Friday evening to Princeton for the only game of the week to take on the 10-1 Tigers, who currently sit on top of the M8 with a 2-0 record.  Monday night, the Bulldogs host their rivals, the Big Lake Hornets.