Story by Kadin Rogers.
The Monmouth-Roseville boys basketball team was on the road on Friday night, taking on the Orion Chargers in the final regular season game for both squads. The Titans fell 66-44 on the road, as they now prepare for post-season play next week.
Orion got out hot to start the first quarter. The Titans scored first off of a Nico Avendano 3 pointer, however Orion rattled off the next 11 points to take the early 11-3 lead. Avendano and Titans senior Ty Corsaro broke up the run with a baskets and a free throw, however Jake Bainbridge of the Chargers would drill a three to push the lead to 14-6. Jake Steele and Andy Myers both scored from midrange, as Orion took a 16-10 lead after one quarter of play. After Ethan Clark started the second quarter with a baseline jumper for the Titans, Orion took advantage of some Titan turnovers, putting together an 8-0 run to take a double digit lead. Ivan Godina and Ethan Clark ended the run with shots around the basket, while Tyler Finnicum and Maddox Arnold traded threes to push the lead to 31-19 in favor of Orion. To end the half, Titans junior Dame Thioubou converted on a putback under the basket, and Orion finished the half strong with 7 straight points to take a 38-21 lead over Monmouth-Roseville.
Right out of the halftime break, Jake Bainbridge and Dame Thioubou traded baskets in the paint. That would the start to a good quarter from Dame, as he would score a total of 6 in the 3rd. A slurry of points from Orion sophomore Kyler Owens helped push the Chargers lead to 20 points midway through the 3rd. Free throws from Ethan Clark, and four points from junior Ivan Godina cut into the Chargers lead, but a three from Landon Gekas sent the game to the final quarter of play with Orion leading 54-36. The fourth quarter would conclude with Orion controlling the lead, the Titans would finish with scores from Ivan Godina, Lars Bergren, and Andy Myers as Orion would take a 66-44 win over the visiting Titans.
In the stat book for Monmouth-Roseville, Ivan Godina and Dame Thioubou filled the stat sheet, with Godina scoring 10, and Dame scoring 8 with 9 rebounds. The Titans overall record drops to 14-17 with the loss, but M-R now sets their sights on the postseason, as they will host the Alleman Pioneers from the Shoebox on Monday night.
