The Monmouth-Roseville varsity boys basketball team was back in action at The Shoebox on Friday night. The Titans faced off with a familiar foe in the Knoxville Blue Bullets, who knocked Monmouth-Roseville out of last season’s regional tournament. Despite operating without Head Coach Jake Sottos due to illness, Assistant Coach Ethan Sikorski stepped in and helped lead the Titans to the hard fought home win.
The Titans would take an early 4-2 1st quarter lead right out of the gate, after that however, Knoxville would lead the rest of the first half. Forward Braden Downs poured on 13 points to put the Blue Bullets up 19-16. A 7-2 Knoxville run gave them a 26-18 lead, but M-R battled back with a 7-3 mini-run of their own, to bring them within 4 at the halftime break.
The Titans defense would tighten up in a big way in the third quarter, holding Knoxville to just 6 points, and taking a lead on a Jake Steele three-pointer. After the Blue Bullets tied the game at 35, Junior guard Darrion Smith put the Titans up by two after his made bucket to end the third quarter. Another defensive battle would ensue in the final quarter of play, as M-R would cling to a 46-44 advantage with under one minute to play. A Knoxville missed three with 15 seconds to play would be rebounded by Nick Lewis-Bresnahan and the Bullets would be forced to send him to the line. Bresnahan would miss his bonus free throw, giving one more shot for Knoxville. They would feed Braden Downs in the paint, but his shot was just off the mark, and the Titans eeked out the 46-44 win.
In the stat-book for the Titans, Jerome Jackson led the scoring with 16 points, while Nico Avendano added 8, and Nick Lewis-Bresnahan and Darrion Smith scored 6 points. The Titans move up to 5-3 overall and are at home again on Tuesday night, when they host the Titans of West Hancock. For the full replay of the WMOI broadcast, click HERE
