The Blackhawks got a key victory at home after falling behind early against the Colby Hornets to sweep the season series by a final of 65-56, by going on a late 10-1 run to put the game away.
The Blackhawks started out slow against Colby with some turnovers and falling behind 11-2 with the only basket being a buddy pass from Winston Poehler to Jack Wendler. However, the Hawks, after only scoring on one of their first nine possessions, scored on nine of 10 possessions. Baskets by Preston Fritz, Poehler, and a steal, a pull-up jumper by Isaiah Pyrchalla kept the Hawks rally going. Back-to-back threes by Poehler and one by Clay Mueller and later from Paczkowski put the lead at 24-17. The Hornets then outscored the Hawks 12-4 to finish the half and grab a 29-28 lead.
The Blackhawks came out executing in the second half with Poehler grabbing rebounds on the offensive end on back-to-back possessions and paying it off with four points. Fritz then fed Wendler down low for two as the Hawks grabbed a 34-31 lead. A Clay Mueller three and five straight points by Poehler continued to build a lead by the Hawks, 43-33. A perfect give and go from Poehler to Talon Mueller netted two along with Clay Mueller dialing up another one from deep. Aggressive offense continued to help the Hawks keep the lead with free throws becoming a big part. The Hornets did not go away making a pair of threes and a steal and lay-up to cut the lead to one, 55-54. After three free throws by Fritz, Clay Mueller took in a full court pass from Poehler and laid it in making it 60-54. Clay Mueller then got a keep steal for another lay-in to put the game out of reach for the Hornets, as the Hawks won 65-56.
The Blackhawks shot 53% from two-point range and made 18-29 (62%) from the FT line. They also out rebounded the Hornets 43-23 and had 19 second chance points on the game.
Box Score: Clay Mueller 19 pts, 5 rebs, 4 stls; Fritz 14 pts, 7 rebs, 2 asts; Poehler 13 pts, 12 rebounds, 3 asts, 2 stls; Wendler 8 pts, 6 rebs, 2 asts; Paczkowski 7 pts, 3 rebs, 2 asts; T. Mueller 2 pts, 8 rebs, 2 asts, 2 stls; Pyrchalla 2 pts, 2 stls.
Coach's Comments
We came out slow in the first half and finished it rough, but we made a nice run in the middle to get some rhythm and set a tone. Our defense made some key stops, along with more consistent offense in the second half. Some balanced scoring and key plays by all the guys to finish out the game also.