Edinburgh’s boys basketball team didn’t open the new year with the right amount of tenacity.
Largely due to a slow start, the Lancers started 2017 with a 72-49 loss to Seymour on Tuesday night.
Prior to a timeout by the Lancers (3-9), the Owls opened the game on a 7-0 run by the 5:53 mark behind five points from Tyler Bloom.
Following a score from the Lancers’ Cameron Cravens, Bloom hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Seth Ragon added a basket to extend the Owls’ lead to 15-2.
With five ticks left in the opening quarter, the Owls’ Ty McCory stole an inbounds pass and hit a deep 3-pointer ranging to extend the visitors’ lead to 23-9.
Edinburgh got treys from Justin Fosskuhl and Coltan Henderson to cut the deficit to 23-15 with 5:27 left in the second quarter, but Seymour responded with six unanswered points under the basket, and the Owls had stretched their lead back to 35-21 by intermission.
In the opening 16 minutes, the Owls dominated the glass — outrebounding the Lancers 18-9 behind six boards from Tiller Cummings.
Lancers coach Drew Glentzer said his team played intimidated in the first 16 minutes.
“I thought we played scared in the first quarter,” he said. “We settled in, but I didn’t think we played overly well during the course of the game. When we made some shots our effort did get a little better. Tonight, we didn’t make very many shots and our effort swayed with our shooting.”
Bloom scored the Owls’ first 10 points of the second half and Fosskuhl accounted for eight straight as Seymour took a 45-29 lead four minutes in.
Ragon and Cummings each scored four more points for the Owls before the buzzer to widen the margin to 53-36, and that lead was up to 23 by the 4:37 mark of the fourth quarter.
Edinburgh was outrebounded by a 33-18 margin. Bryce Burton snagged six boards for the Lancers.
“Seymour’s size gave us a lot of problems,” Glentzer said. “They had the luxury of kicking it outside to open shooters. We would double inside and they would get it to a wide open guy. They played the game the way they wanted to. We weren’t able to get enough turnovers or rebounds to get out and go.”
Each team had buried nine 3-pointers by the final buzzer.
Bloom led the Owls with 21 points and Ragon added 14. Henderson led all Lancer scorers with 17 points.
