Men’s basketball splits weekend with WSR, Xavier

The men’s basketball team split two big home games over the weekend, bringing their season record to 13-3.

Friday night the Tigers handed Cedar Rapids Xavier another loss en route to a 45-38 victory, advancing the team’s winning streak to 11 games. Cedar Falls found themselves trailing for most of the game, but pulled off a late comeback to knock off the Saints. Senior Ike Boettger led all scorers with 16 points.

Saturday night Waverly Shell-Rock ended the Tiger’s hopes of finishing the season with a 17-game winning streak, taking the Tigers down by a score of 40-47. Boettger led the scoring attack, finishing with 16 points on the night. But in the end, WSR’s Klinton Carlson’s 17 points were too many for Cedar Falls to overcome. Carlson has committed to playing basketball at Northern Iowa next season. “It was a tough loss to a good team. We could’ve played better, but we’re going to learn and get better before our next game at west,” senior Zach Harvey said.

The Tigers ran into problems early Saturday night when senior floor general Kalund Brown picked up three fouls in the opening minutes, sidelining himself for most of the game. Kalund wasn’t the only Tiger fighting foul trouble for most of the night though. Boettger found himself in some trouble throughout out the game, and finally picked up his fifth foul in the closing seconds. Junior Jared Deines came off the bench and hit three big triples, momentarily propelling the Tigers. Cedar Falls’ 17 fouls compared to WSR’s eight is part of what made a failed late comeback so challenging. “It was a lot harder because we weren’t able to play as aggressive,” Kalund Brown said.

Cedar Falls has Tuesday off, but will be back in action this Friday at Waterloo West, where they look to get back on a roll. “Were looking to bounce back with a win. We want to learn and get better from the Waverly game. Hopefully we can win out and get to State,” Kalehl Brown said.

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