The Monmouth-Roseville Titans boys basketball team returned home to the Shoebox of Monmouth-Roseville High School on Friday night for their third of four games in a busy week of basketball. In this one, the Titans would welcome in a very stout Orion Chargers ball club for a Three Rivers Conference showdown.
Ethan Clark found the hot hand early for Monmouth-Roseville, opening up a 5-2 lead. Orion would then preview a very efficient shooting night by rattling off three 3 balls to grab their own 11-6 lead. The Chargers would then extend their run to 17-6 and a double digit lead. Andy Myers would end the run with a three of his own but Orion continued to scoring in spurts, putting together another 8-0 run before Jacob Bainbridge ended the half at the buzzer to put Orion on top 27-11 after one quarter. The Chargers ended with 5 three pointers in the first quarter alone. Payton Thompson opened up the second quarter with a three ball, but once again Orion got rolling offensively on a 9-0 run to push their lead to 22. Nick Huston would end the run with a nice take under the basket, while a Clay Casteel three and Andy Myers steal and layup would cut the lead to 14 points as the Titans head into the halftime break down 43-29.
Thompson once again took the lid off the scoring out of the break, putting Monmouth-Roseville in striking distance, however Chargers guard Kyler Owens responded with a three ball, giving Orion the momentum to quickly balloon their lead back up to 19 points. Maddux Arnold’s three would close the quarter for Orion, putting them on top 57-37 after 3. The final quarter of play would find Orion working to preserve their lead as they went on to cruise to a 69-48 road win. Ivan Godina, Elijah Noel, and Eli Burton were able to put themselves into the game scoring column in the fourth. In the stat book for the Titans, Payton Thompson and Andy Myers tied in points with 10 a piece while Lars Bergren added in 7. The loss for the Titans snaps a five game winning streak and drops their overall record to 7-5. Monmouth-Roseville has one more game to end the week and it’s a big one, a Warren County battle with the United Red Storm on Saturday evening at 6 o clock. That game will be part of a long day of basketball from Abingdon-Avon High School in the annual Great Western Shootout.
