Luther men bounce back with conference win
Date 12/5/2002 12:00 AM | Topic: SportsThe Luther men's basketball team rebounded from a 0-3 start to grab its first win of the season in a 73-60 victory over conference rival Central College.
Luther bucked the trend it had started in its earlier contests by blistering the nets in the first half. Luther hit on 58 percent of its shots to build a 37-22 halftime lead. The Norse never relinquished control of the game and never led by less than 11 in the second half.
Four Luther players scored in double figures with Brandon Grimm ('05) leading the way with 17 points and eight rebounds. Andy Rump ('06) finished with 12 points scored on all three-pointers.
Jake Lappe ('04) also scored 12 points and hit 7-8 from the charity stripe. Erik Lowe ('05), making his first start this season added 10 points.
The team had dropped its first three games of the season. The Norse fell to UW-La Crosse last Saturday 72-48. Earlier in the week, Luther dropped games to MIAC foes St. Olaf (74-56) and Gustavus (71-59). Poor shooting throughout the early season had plauged the Norse.
Against UW-La Crosse, Luther made only 29 percent of its shots the entire game, connecting on only one of every four shots in the second half.
The Norse players made only 17 of their 58 field goal attempts, and 2 of their 14 three-point tries.
The one bright spot of the game was Justin Pieper ('04), who missed a double-double by one rebound. He led the team with 16 points and 9 boards. Rump added 10 points and Grimm had seven points and led the team with four steals.
In Luther's first road game of the year, St. Olaf jumped out to a 12-point halftime lead by capitalizing on another bout of poor Norse shooting. Luther converted on just 3 of 14 three-point attempts and shot only 35 percent on all field goals in the first half.
The Norse shooters got back on track a little in the second half shooting 5-9 from three-point land and hitting on 45 percent of their shots from the field. But the Oles went 15-17 from the free-throw line to clinch the 74-56 win.
Grimm led all scorers with 20 points, going 3-6 from 3-point range. Lappe added 11 points and grabbed 6 boards.
In the season opener against Gustavus, Luther held close to the Gusties for most of the game before the opponents pulled away down the stretch. Gustavus, who is currently ranked 21st in the most recent D3Hoops.com poll, defeated Luther by 12
Adam Morrisey ('03) led Luther in scoring with 12 points and Lappe added 11. Matt Richardson ('04) hauled in seven boards to lead the team. Three players had two assists each and Jason Karaidos ('03) had a pair of steals.
The Norse will play a road game at Mt. Mercy on Dec. 8 and then return home on Dec. 14 to host UW-Osh Kosh.
Osh Kosh is 4-0 and is ranked 3rd in the country by D3Hoops.com.
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Josh Westgaard
Staff Writer
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