Lancers look sluggish, drop game to Lutheran

For The DAILY JOURNAL

EDINBURGH

Playing three basketball games in less than 30 hours perhaps took its toll on Edinburgh and Indianapolis Lutheran as both squads appeared sluggish at times in the Lancers’ two-day tournament consolation battle Tuesday evening.

In the end, Lutheran showed a bit more aggression and benefitted at the free-throw line down the stretch to pull out a 62-53 victory for third place. Edinburgh, which went 1-2 in the eight-team event, falls to 3-7 on the season.

Both teams played evenly throughout the first half. The Saints held just a 31-29 lead at intermission before the Lancers managed only six points in the third quarter and came up just short of a momentum-swinging rally midway through the final quarter.

Twice, the Lancers cut Lutheran’s lead to six points late in the game, and a driving layup by Christian Cox pulled the Lancers to within 55-51 with a minute remaining, but the Saints sank five of eight free throws as time melted away en route to the win.

Cox kept Edinburgh competitive with consistent play throughout the contest to finish with | 19 points and eight rebounds.

Kyle Pendleton finished with 14 points.