By By JEFF FISHER / Vigilant/Argus
The River Valley Mustangs welcomed back their senior point guard Chad Kuntz after suffering a concussion against Berrien Springs Dec. 16.
Kuntz buried two three-pointers to go with the teams' four in the first quarter to set the tempo of the game and give the Mustangs a 57-43 decision Friday night in a Lakeland Conference match up over the host Eddies.
River Valley opened the first quarter with a 6-4 lead, but a 5-0 run gave the Mustangs a 14-7 lead entering the second quarter. The Eddies responded with a 6-0 run of their own to cut the lead to 14-13, but not before the visitors jumped out to a 20-13 advantage.
The Mustangs led 24-15 at halftime, but the Eddies' Adam Hancock scored five third quarter points to cut the Mustangs' lead to 10 (35-25).
That would be as close as the Eddies would get as frustration seemed to set in and Eddies coach Jeff Kozinski was called for a technical foul.
Caleb Dryden paced the Mustangs with 14 points. Jeremy Schaeffer added 12, and Andrew White with 11 points and several blocked shots.
The Eddies' senior center Tony Hayes came into the contest averaging 20.2 points per game, was held to only 11 points.
Hancock netted 12 points and Kevin Stack with 10 points.
The Eddies (2-3, 0-2), will play the next two games on the road before returning home again Jan. 17 against White Pigeon to begin a five game home stand.