Rally keeps Raiders perfect in division

The Central Lakes College men's basketball team kept its Northern Division record perfect, moving to 4-0 in division play, with a 78-71 comeback victory over the Hibbing Cardinals on Saturday.

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The Raiders shot 42 percent in the second half, but also earned 22 free-throws compared to just two trips to the line in the first half.

Marcus Ayala

Milos Prijovic is starting to become a focal point of the Raiders' offense. On Saturday he scored 19 points to lead the Raiders in scoring as he went 8-13 from the field and 1-3 from the 3-point line.

Starting point guard Marcus Ayala recognizes Prijovic's importance in the offense as the Raiders move deeper into division play.

"He's coming around now so as things open up we look for him," Ayala said. "It's starting to come together. We know it's conference play and we were ready to play and pull this game out, which we did."

CLC sits atop the North with a 4-0 record, and lifted their overall record to 14-3. Raiders coach Jim Russell pointed out that the Raiders are getting the other team's best effort each time an opponent visits CLC.

Central Lakes 78, Hibbing 71

Division: CLC 4-0.

Overall: CLC 14-3.

Next: Northland at CLC 8 p.m. Wednesday.

That certainly was the case Saturday as the Cardinals controlled the tempo in the first half with an aggressive, up-tempo pace. The Cardinals held a 17-11 edge in points off turnovers but Ayala pointed out that the Raiders are getting a better handle on that part of their game.

"We limited our turnovers today," he said. "Unlike when Fergus Falls pressed us, we kept our composure this game and were able to break the press. With me being a little more patient it controlled the team, which lessened the turnovers."

CLC led just 39-38 at halftime. Hibbing jumped out to a small lead with about 12 minutes left in the second half.

There were four lead changes in the game, with all of them occurring in the second half after Hibbing had taken the lead.

The Raiders started to turn the game around after that by hitting key shots but also earning trips to the free throw line. The change in tempo was a key part of the game for Russell.

"We just have to learn to be a little smarter at times and know the situation that's going on in the game," he said. "They created the tempo more then we did, which we didn't necessarily like. They sat in a zone so we really didn't get going.

"When they got behind they went back to man-to-man and then we got going but it wasn't smart decisions.

"I told my guys the tempo is created on the defensive end and in the first half we didn't have it. They were taking high percentage shots, and in the second half they got a little colder and we made some adjustments and played better defense."

Part of the second-half comeback was play by the bench. Nick Grewe had to sit out a large part of the second half with foul trouble.

"Our goal was to attack the basket and get to the free-throw line, but that was created by our tempo," Russell said. "Marcus McDonald came off the bench and did a great job. They couldn't get anything going and then we started making some moves to the basket and getting to the line."

The Raiders closed out the Cardinals by scoring nine of their last 11 points from the free-throw line while allowing Hibbing just three field goals in the last eight minutes.

Hibbing 38 33 - 71

Central Lakes 39 39 - 78

HIBBING

Rahmel Glover 4, Phillip Freeman 22, Aaron Norman 14, Georde Marchand 1, Jay Carie 12, Orlando Edwards 14, Josh Mastin 4. FG 25-52 (48 percent), FT 15-17 (88 percent), Three-point baskets: (Freeman 2, Norman 2, Carie 2).

CENTRAL LAKES

Marcus McDonald 2, Marcus Ayala 16, Nash Faulk 16, Erik Peeters 6, Yasin Jama 7, Nick Grewe 6, Milos Prijovic 19. FG 29-59 (49 percent), FT 14-24 (58 percent), Three-point baskets: ( Faulk 3, Peeters 2, Prijovic 1).