BUCHANAN — In Friday night’s Lakeland Conference basketball match up between Buchanan and Cassopolis, spectators were treated to a game that left even the most casual of fans emotionally drained, as the Bucks upended the Rangers in a wild 60-59 victory.

It should come as no real surprise that after these two teams’ last meeting, a 65-41 Bucks’ walloping over Cass, that Buchanan fans were expecting their own hardwood version of a St. Valentine’s Day Massacre, but the pesky Rangers would not give them the satisfaction.

“That’s a pretty good basketball team (Cass) we just played. There were no surprises here on our end. We knew that they were athletic, getting better and ready to battle. We’re very happy to get out of here with the W, that’s for sure,” Buchanan coach Reid McBeth said.

Doug Freeman got the ball rolling for the Bucks early, scoring 11 of his game-high 21 points in the first quarter. As the game barreled along into its later stages, it became evident that the Rangers were not going to allow Freeman to single handedly sink their chance at victory.

With Freeman being corralled by the Ranger defense; Buchanan turned to Kevin Dey to save the day. Dey scored eight of his 19 points with just five minutes left in the contest to effectively snuff out Cass’ upset bid.

“We were right there, man. We were on the cusp of scoring a big, really huge win,” Ranger coach Ricky Evans said. “That was a great high school basketball game. We won’t put our heads down after this one. We grew up a lot tonight and I’m excepting brighter things on our horizon.”

Brandon Glover netted 19 points, while Lynell Ballard and Travis Edwards added 10 apiece, for the Rangers in a losing effort.

The Bucks improved to 6-0 at home on the season and the nomadic Rangers fell to 5-9 on the road for the year.

 

Buchanan 60, Cassopolis 59

BUCHANAN 60

Doug Freeman 21, Kevin Dey 19, Elijah Lewis 6, Alex Leiter 5, Christian Catalano 3, Tim McCaffrey 3, Dustin Gray 2, Josiah Smith 1. TOTALS: 22 15-24 60

CASSOPOLIS 59

Brandon Glover 19, Lynell Ballard 10, Travis Edwards 10, J.J. Smith 6, Malik Ballard 6, Cornelius Glass 4, Vashaun Morgan 4. TOTALS: 22 9-10 59

 

Buchanan             15            30           43           60

Cassopolis           15            31            43           59

3-point baskets: Cassopolis 6 (Glover 3, Smith 2, M. Ballard). Buchanan 2 (Freeman, Catalano). Total Fouls (fouled out): Cassopolis 21 (Smith). Buchanan 15 (none). Varsity records: Buchanan 10-2, 4-1 Lakeland; Cassopolis 6-8, 0-4 Lakeland