The Becker Bulldog boys basketball team is certainly known for its offensive prowess under Coach Cory Nuest, as the team last year set an all-time program scoring record.  But this year’s focus on defense continues to pay dividends as the Bulldogs picked up a pair of convincing wins last week over North Branch and Fridley.

Vs. North Branch

Friday night, the team dismantled the North Branch Vikings, 80-36, to run their win streak to three games.

The Dogs treated the huge Youth Night crowd to an entertaining game, with Sawyer Brown nailing an early three point shot, followed by his steals and blocked shots which led to a flurry of defensive pressure.

Sophomore Isiah Boyer also had a great opening half, scoring nine of his 13 points before the intermission.

“Isiah’s offensive attack was just what we needed off the bench,” Nuest said.  “He showed his talent on both ends of the court.”

Brown and Nathan Weiss each had 12 points in the opening half to pace the Bulldogs, who had five players score in double figures in the first 18 minutes to open up a 55-18 halftime lead.

A total of nine Bulldogs scored in the conference matchup.

“We continue to find strength in our defense,” Nuest said.

Stats: Mitch Soltau 11 pts; Bryce Paumen 16 pts, seven rebounds; Brown 13 pts, eight rebounds, four assists; Weiss 17 pts; Troy Nuest six assists, eight steals/deflections; Boyer 13 pts; Denlan Harmoning four pts; Saul Kreft three pts; Hunter Youngdahl two pts, Alex Kinney one pt.

Community Clash

Saturday, the Dogs hosted Fridley in the Breakdown Sports’ Community Clash series and came away with an exciting 89-87 Section opponent win.

“It doesn’t get any sweeter than a two point victory in the last 12 seconds of the game,” Nuest said.  

With just one minute left in warmups, the Becker coaching staff noticed a twinkle in Bryce Paumen’s eyes and they predicted a big night for him.  He did not disappoint, coming through with a career high 40 points and 20 rebounds.

Despite Paumen’s dominating inside presence, Fridley was able to eke out an eight point lead that they held for most of the first half.  Troy Nuest, however, willed his team to close the gap with a pair of offensive rebounds and two deep three-pointers  late in the half.  Becker would trail by just one point at halftime, 37-36.

After intermission, Sawyer Brown brought a spark and the Bulldogs carved out a 10 point lead with seven minutes remaining in the game.  However, Fridley battled back to tie the game with 13 seconds remaining before Brown stole the ball and was fouled on the ensuing layup.  He made both free throws and the Dogs were able to come up with one final steal to seal the win, Becker’s fourth in a row and sixth out of their last seven games.

Brown finished with 23 points and added six steals/ deflections, while Weiss had 14 points.

Legacy

Tuesday night, Becker saw its winning streak come to an end with a 80-64 loss at Legacy Christian Academy, as the Lions improved to 13-5 on the season.

Becker was scheduled to face Zimmerman on Friday evening.