By By MICHAEL BASHARA / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN -- The Buchanan varsity basketball team improved its record to 11-1 on the season Saturday night, defeating Michigan City (Ind.) Marquette 60-40.
The game started out slowly for the Bucks as Marquette's Matt Kelly hit a 3-pointer to open the scoring for the game. Buchanan answered with a inside basket by Quinton Buish, but Kelly hit his second three to make the score 6-2 almost midway through the first period.
Buchanan chipped away at the early lead with free throws, and took the lead at 7-6 when DuJuan Bennett scored inside. Buchanan went on to win the first quarter 14-10.
The second quarter started with Tony Robinson hitting a 3-pointer to put the lead at 17-10. Kelly scored seven more points in the second quarter as Marquette closed the gap to 22-20 at halftime.
Again it was a big third quarter that put the game away for the Bucks. They gave up one easy basket on their press, but scored many times on the press themselves.
Kelly, who led all scorers with 18 points, had only one field goal in the second half, scoring 13 of his points before halftime.
Buchanan's Zach Bonham scored eight points in the third quarter as he hit three shots inside and sank two free throws. Gordon Bryant scored six points in the third quarter as the Bucks outscored Marquette 24-9 in the third period, racing to 46-29 lead going in to the final eight minutes.
In the final period, both teams emptied their benches, which, for Buchanan meant players who had played saw action, and for Marquette it meant that three starters got a rest as the three players on the bench played. Buchanan was able to stretch its lead another three points in the fourth quarter.
Buchanan had three starters in double figures. Bryant led the way with 15 points. Robinson added 13 and Bonham scored 12. Buchanan got 10 points from its bench and quality minutes from several reserves.
Buchanan is now 7-1 in the Lakeland conference. The Bucks are currently ranked ninth in the state. Marquette moves to 8-9 on the season.
The junior varsity game was won by Buchanan, 49-36. Doug Summers led they Bucks with 13 points. P.J. Pollock added 11 pints and Eric Cole tallied 10 points.
The Buchanan freshmen lost to Eau Claire's junior varsity team, 66-61. Damian Bryant led the freshmen Bucks with 14 points. Terrell Tucker added 11 points and True Sullier score 10 points.
Buchanan travels to Eau Claire Tuesday with a freshmen game starting at 4:30 p.m.
Buchanan……………………….60
Michigan City Marquette….40
Buchanan: Rodney Tembo 0 0-0 0, Brian Shannon 1 1-3 3, Kyle Tracy 0 0-0 0, Quinton Buish 1 4-6 6, Tony Robinson 6 0-0 13, DuJuan Bennett 3 0-1 6, Brandon Kyles 0 0-0 0, Jacob Brown 1 0-0 2, Gordon Bryant 5 4-4 15, Jared Rusher 0 0-2 0, Karl Schmidt 1 1-2 3, Raylin Hinds 0 0-0 0, Zach Bonham 4 4-4 12. Totals: 22 14-22 60
Marquette: Pat Coleman 1 3-4 6, Charlie Trainor 2 0-0 4, Matt Fletcher 2 1-4 5, Zac Merrill 0 0-0 0, Eric Doster 1 0-0 2, Pat Bergerson 2 0-0 4, Greg Fletcher 0 1-2 1, Matt Kelley 6 3-3 18. Totals: 14 8-13 40
Buchanan 14 8 24 14--60
Marquette 10 10 9 11--40
3-point shooting: Buchanan 2 (Robinson, Bryant), Marquette 4 (Kelley 3, Coleman). Team Fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 17 (none), Marquette 18 (none). Team records: Buchanan 11-1, Marquette 8-9