MINNEAPOLIS -- Try as it might in the second half, the Minnesota West men's basketball team came up just short in its Minnesota Community College Conference quarterfinal game Friday night against Northland.
Northland used a 12-0 run to take back the lead in the second half, then hit just enough of its free throws to hold off the Bluejays, 67-64, and advance to today's semifinal.
"We weren't patient enough during that time," Minnesota West head coach Justin Heckenlaible said. "When we had a good look, we missed a couple of easy shots."
Minnesota West (13-13) will play in the consolation game today against Vermillion. Minneapolis sent Vermillion to the consolation bracket with a 73-50 victory in Friday's late quarterfinal matchup.
Northland held off Minnesota West with its shooting from the free-throw line. Entering the contest hitting 68 percent of its free throws as a team, the Pioneers hit on 16-of-21 attempts in the second half alone. The Bluejays, in comparison, hit 11-of-l6 free throws in the game.
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Eddie Marrs did all he could in the final minutes to get the Bluejays back in after falling behind by as much as 10 points, 61-51, with about two minutes left. Marrs hit three 3-pointers in the final two minutes -- en route to 17 points on the night, tying for tops on the team with Cornelius Bardney -- to get the Bluejays within three, 65-62, with 16.4 seconds left. After Brandon Fontes hit a free throw to push the lead back to four, Bardney hit on 2-of-3 free throws to get the Bluejays back within two, 66-64.
"(Marrs) stepped up and made the big shots," Heckenlaible said.
Kyrk Freeman (game-high 20 points) had a chance to ice the game, but made only 1-of-2 free throws. His miss on the second shot gave Zach Traphagen a chance at a desperation heave from about 70 feet away to tie, but the attempt fell short.
Freeman finished the game hitting 9-of-10 free throws -- all in the second half -- and was able to attack the Bluejays' defense despite their best efforts.
"Freeman is a really good FT shooter," Heckenlaible said. "We tried to deny him but they did a nice job of getting him open."
Minnesota West gained some early control in the first half. After falling behind 13-9, the Bluejays held the Pioneers without a field goal for more than 10 minutes, going on a 13-1 run of their own to take a 22-14 lead with 3:31 left in the half.
Bardney, Kanir Jackson and Michael Riley sparked the Bluejays during the run --Riley had six points during the run, while Bardney had four and Jackson had the other three points.
Northland closed the half with a quick burst, outscoring the Bluejays 6-2 to trail 24-20 at the half. Minnesota West then built the lead back to seven, 30-23, following a basket from Bardney early in the second half, before the Pioneers took control.
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Cameron Barlowe was the only other player for the Bluejays to hit double figures in scoring, ending the game with 10 points.
For Northland, Tomas Loberg had 18 points to help its cause. He was followed by 13 points from Trumaine Johnson and 11 from Brock Esaw.
Despite the loss, the Bluejays still have a goal to shoot after: the fifth-place trophy. If they win today and Sunday, they will accomplish that goal, and it's what Heckenlaible aims for his team to accomplish.
"We want to compete and play hard, and we'd like to finish our year with the consolation championship," he said.
MW 24 40 -- 64
Northland 20 47 -- 67
MW (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Traphagen 0-1-0-2, Jackson 1-2-0-7, Doty 0-3-3-3, Barlowe 1-3-1-10, Bardney 1-5-4-17, Marrs 3-3-2-17, Sanford 0-1-0-2, Riley 1-1-1-6. Totals: 7-16-11-64.
Northland (3FG-2FG-FT-TP): Freeman 1-4-9-20, Johnson 1-5-0-13, Settergren 0-1-3-5, Esaw 0-3-1-9, Fontes 0-0-2-2, Loberg 0-7-2-16, Lage 0-1-0-2. Totals: 2-22-17-67.
