Niles improves to 5-2 with wins over Sturgis, North Lawndale

Published 10:13 am Tuesday, December 19, 2023

By Scott Novak

DOWAGIAC — The Niles boys basketball team won back-to-back games last weekend to improve to 5-2 on the year.

The Vikings rolled to an easy 63-36 Wolverine Conference victory over host Sturgis last Friday night before defeating North Lawndale College Prep (Illinois) 49-41 at the Southwestern Michigan College Tri-State Holiday Classic on Saturday.

 

Niles at Sturgis

The Vikings took over sole possession of first place in the Wolverine Conference with the win over the Trojans.

Niles (4-0) jumped out to a 17-7 first quarter lead and maintained its 10-point advantage (29-19) through halftime.

In the final 16 minutes of play, the Vikings doubled up Sturgis (34-17) to cruise to the easy win. Niles led 47-32 heading into the fourth quarter.

Brenden Olsen led a balanced Vikings scoring attack with 155 points, while Mike Phillips Jr. added 12 and Ethan Chambliss 10 points. Darris Johnson III and Brayden Favors scored nine and eight points, respectively.

The Trojans (0-5, 0-4 Wolverine) did not have a single player reach double figures. Grady Miller led Sturgis with nine points.

 

Tri-State Holiday Classic

Phillips Jr. scored a game-high 19 points to lead Niles to the victory over North Lawndale at the 1st Source Bank Fieldhouse.

Niles led 17-12 after one quarter and 22-15 at halftime. The Vikings increased its lead to nine points (33-24) after three quarters and then held off North Lawndale in the final eight minutes of their non-conference contest.

Besides Phillips Jr., Niles also got nine points from Favors and six points from Chambliss.

The Vikings are back in action on Thursday as they wrap up the 2023 portion of their schedule by hosting Paw Paw in a Wolverine Conference contest.

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