Lima, Ohio – The Lawrence Technological University men’s basketball team traveled to Lima, Ohio to play the University of Northwestern Ohio Racers. The Blue Devils got off to a 10-0 start, and had their biggest lead up to 21 at one point, but the Racers stormed back late and hit some big shots down the stretch as LTU lost by a final score of 71-69.
Leading the way in scoring for the Blue Devils was Brandon Beavers with 15 and seven rebounds, Alek Ivanovic added 14 points, Carter Frantz and Andrew Rinn combined for 23 points.
On LTU’s first possession of the game, Frantz got a steal on defense and came back down on the other end to nail a three-pointer at the top of the key to start things off.
Next time down on offense, Frantz beat his defender for a nice finish with the left hand on the right side.
The Blue Devils started this game off on a 10-0 run in the first four minutes of play.
Their run was ended by a layup from Zach Montes with 17:24 left.
Sharpshooter, Blake Lund came off the bench and knocked down a triple with 12:10 to go to put his team up 21-8.
The Racers cut the lead to 13 off back-to-back buckets from Biggz Johnson and Ben Westrick.
Right out of the media timeout with 8:16 to play in the first half, Rinn sprinted the floor in transition, then grabbed an offensive rebound for a nice tip in to make it 31-14.
With a steal from Frantz on the very next possession and leading the fastbreak, he found Rinn open underneath the basket for another wide-open layup.
Westrick’s 6-0 personal run made it 31-20 with 6:05 to play.
Ivanovic drained his second three of the game with 3:37 left in the first, assisted by Beavers, as the Blue Devils led 36-21.
With just under two minutes to play, Rinn added an and-1.
Right before the half, Frantz filled up to the wing to hit a long-range three that gave LTU its biggest lead of the first half, 42-24. Assisted by Beavers.
LTU headed into the locker room with a comfortable 16-point lead, 42-26.
The Blue Devils shot the ball 16-of-36 (44.4%) from the field, 6-of-17 (35.3%) from three, and made 4-of-5 (80.0%) free throws.
The Racers came out of half and cut the lead to nine within the first three minutes.
A drive and kick to Ivanovic for a three at the top of the key made it a double-digit lead again with 16:53 left.
After a Racer turnover, Beavers got to the rim for an easy scoop and score.
Making it a 14-point lead was Ivanovic driving straight down the lane with 13:18 to go.
A couple of possessions later, the Blue Devils got the defense in scramble mode when Ivanovic found Isaiah Cumberland slashing to the basket for a nice easy slam to make it 57-42.
Frantz drilled a three not long after Cumberland’s slam.
Ivanovic made his fourth three-pointer of the evening right before the media timeout after Beavers found him wide open on the perimeter.
The Blue Devils led 63-44 with just under 10 minutes to play in the game.
After out of the timeout, Gunnar Gustafson got control of an offensive rebound to finish with his left hand.
Minutes later, things started to slow down for the Blue Devils offense as they went scoreless for three minutes straight. The 21-point lead was cut to 12 with 5:54 remaining.
The Blue Devils were still without a bucket when Montz hit a three in rhythm to bring the LTU lead within single digits at 65-56.
A turnover from LTU led to a Racer three-pointer to make it 65-61 with 3:35 left. Coach Pickens was forced to call timeout.
Johnson was fouled on a three and hit all three at the charity strike to cut the deficit to one for the Racers.
Beavers was fouled after attacking the basket and made 1-of-2 at the line. The lead was 66-64 LTU with 2:16 to play.
A huge steal on the defensive end from Beavers led to a Gustafson tip-in that gave LTU a 68-64 lead with under two minutes.
Jalen Clark made it 68-66 for UNOH.
A couple of missed LTU free throws down the stretch were costly as the Racers made theirs to complete the comeback from 21-points down to win 71-69.
LTU shot the ball 25-of-66 (37.9%) from the field, 9-of-30 (30.0%) from three, and 10-of-16 (62.5%) from the line.
The next Blue Devils’ (5-4) matchup is at home when they host Rochester University inside the Don Ridler Fieldhouse. This game will begin at 7:30 PM.
