Bruins make late comeback, win barnburner against Riders

Despite being outplayed for most of the game, the Fargo South Bruins made a fantastic ralley the last 7 minutes of the game to pull out an unlikely 52-51 win over visiting Red River on Tuesday night in the Bruin gym. The game was a battle for first place in the EDC as the Riders came in with only 1 conference loss. Red River scored the first 6 points of the game, and didn't trail until the last 20 seconds of the game. In the opening half, the Riders kept the Bruins at bay with balanced scoring, with 8 players scoring points, and the Bruins could not ever find their offensive rhythm, shooting just 25% in the opening half from the field and only 50% from the freethrow line. Despite the subpar performance though, South only trailed by a 23-20 margin heading into the break. The teams traded baskets for the opening few minutes, as Katie Felch and Jasmine Moffett each scored a hoop to make it a 25-24 rider lead, but then Red River began to stretch things out. Brook Borg got hot for the Riders, scoring 13 second half points and the game looked to be out of hand for South as the Riders built a 15 point lead at 43-28 with just over 7 minutes to play. Thats when the Bruins found their sense of urgency that had been missing the entire game to that point. South utilized a full court press that resulted in a number of turnovers for the Riders coming down the stretch, although the Riders still held a double figures lead at 49-39 with under 4 minutes to play. Brittney Bolstad's three pointer cut the lead to 49-42 which seemed to really energize the Bruins. A few seconds later, a steal and basket by Amanda Schultz cut the lead to 49-44 and forced a Rider timeout. With just over 2 minutes to play, Raquel Wellentin had a huge steal and pass ahead to Katie Felch for a tough driving layup, cutting the lead to 49-46, then just 20 seconds later, Emily Livingood had a steal and Amanda Schultz scored as a result to cut the lead to 49-48. Brook Borg made a basket to stop the bleeding for the Riders and make it 51-48 with 54 seconds left. Just 5 seconds later though, Katie Felch was fouled and after a Red River timeout, made both freethrows to make it a 51-50 game. The Bruins again forced a turnover and this time after a South timeout to set up a last play, Amanda Schultz was fouled. After making the first freethrow to tie the game, the Riders called timeout to ice Amanda, but she calmly swished the next freethrow to give the Bruins their first lead of the game at 52-51 with 23 seconds to play. The teams then exchanged turnovers in the closing seconds. Brook Borg was fouled with 5 seconds left, but missed the front end of the bonus, but on the scramble for the rebound, the Riders got possession of the ball back with 2 seconds left. After a timeout, the Riders had one last chance to win, but their last second shot bounced off the iron, and South escaped with the hard fought 52-51 win. Amanda Schultz led South with 14 points, While Katie Felch added 13. The win moves South to 9-0 in the league and 10-2 overall. Next action for South is Friday at West Fargo.

Complete boxscore

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Schultz 4 6-6 14, Bolstad 4 0-0 9, Wellentin 2 1-2 5, Livingood 0 1-2 1, Moffett 2 0-2 4, Wilson 2 0-0 4, Everson 1 0-0 2; Totals 20 11-16 52, Three point goals: Bolstad

Red River: Marhula 1 2-2 4, Borg 7 3-4 17, Ronkowski 4 0-0 9, Cleveland 2 0-0 4, Haaven 2 0-0 4, Ferry 3 0-0 6, Knecht 1 0-0 2; Totals: 22 6-8 51, Three point goals: Ronkowski

Fouled out: Livingood; Total Fouls: South 15, RR 16; Rebounds: South 35(Wellentin, Moffett, Schultz 8), RR 40(Borg 15); Assists: South 13(Felch 4), RR 15(Ronkowski 5); Steals: South 20(Wellentin 6), RR 12(Haaven 4)