'Typical' victory for North Scott

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By Sean Moeller | Saturday, February 2, 2008 12:46 AM CST | () comments

These are the Lancers.

Davenport Assumption got its second formal introduction to Shamus Budde’s North Scott round ball club Friday night as the gritty Lancers took the bigger, brawnier Knights down for the second time in Mississippi Athletic Conference play, 62-53.

They accomplished most with cunning and unmatchable hustle, even taking a slight victory in the rebounding column.

“I think this is a typical North Scott win,” Budde said outside the visitor’s locker room. “We played hard and we played smart. We played well together.”

The Lancers (8-7, 6-5 MAC) got over the .500 mark with a hard fight and a big offensive game from senior Ryan Humlick, who finished with 28 points, though a direct correlation to his outburst can be drawn to fellow guards Ben Dittmer and Ben Resch, who set the table well all night.

Humlick, who scored 23 of his total in the second half, was the only North Scott player to keep the team in the game in a third quarter that had the Knights (9-8. 7-5 MAC) clawing their way back. The Lancers lull lasted nearly

4 minutes as the Knights chipped away at the 9-point lead, cutting it to 24-21. Humlick scored 13 in the period and the Lancers grew the lead back to nine to start the fourth.

Humlick hit a buzzer beating 3-pointer to end the third quarter, performed some acrobatics in a heavily trafficked lane and was cool as ice at the charity stripe — taking one short dribble and letting go, barely looking at the rim.

“I don’t like to think about it,” Humlick said. “I just like to shoot.”

Assumption big men Asa Klein and Joe Daniel caught some tiny fire in the second half, wiggling free down low and keeping the Knights close, but the overall work ethic of the Lancers kept getting them rebounds on defense and pivotal second chances on offense.

“It seemed like a long week of practice after our game got canceled (due to blizzard conditions) on Tuesday,” Humlick said. “We were ready to play. We beat them the first time so we figured they were going to be ready for us.”

The Knights were able to only get within six points of the lead in the fourth quarter, even with Ben Bush scoring 12 in the period. The Lancers made a steady march to the free-throw line, making 23-of-32 from the line for the game, compared to 12-for-19 for Assumption.

“It was a horrible first half and that was the difference,” Assumption coach Pat Finn said. “They outplayed us and they took away our post game and we should be ready for that. A lot of people try and do that to us. We just went into the tank tonight.”

Contact the sports desk at (563) 383-2285 or sports@qctimes.com.