Lutheran Northwest finds outside stroke to rally past Roeper

BY DAN STICKRADT

SENIOR EDITOR

dan.stickradt@northoaklandsports.com

BLOOMFIELD HILLS — With the state tournament drawing near, Rochester Hills Lutheran Northwest is trying to learn how to win close ballgames.

Another test came Tuesday night and the Crusaders passed.

Lutheran Northwest found out that it has the mettle to prevail in a close game with tournament-like atmosphere. The Crusaders drained eight 3-pointers and posted a 40-34, come-from-behind, MIAC Blue Division victory over Birmingham Roeper at the Roughriders’ Bloomfield Hills campus.

“We are a very good (perimeter) shooting team,” said Dan Pontillo, Lutheran Northwest’s veteran head coach. “As you can see, we don’t have mush size, much of a post game. We have to rely on driving and shooting three-pointers. And we’re very young, so it’s nice to see we can win the close games with the tournament coming up.”

Lutheran Northwest (7-7, 5-5) finished 8-of-15 from beyond the arc, including dialing long distance five times in the second half.

Down 20-15 at intermission, Northwest used its outside touch to slowly get back into the game. The Crusaders sank a trio of 3-pointers in the third stanza to close to within 29-24 entering the fourth quarter.

A pair of pull-up three pointers by junior Gurther Rathore helped fuel a 9-1 run to open the fourth quarter and turn the five-point deficit into a 34-30 lead with 5:30 to play. Northwest never trailed sophomore Joshua Morrison’s slasher put the Crusaders up 31-30 with 6:05 to play.

Roeper was able to close to within 36-34 with 1:53 to play when 6-foot-6 junior center Jack Gorland split a pair of free throws. Northwest responded by making 4-of-6 free throws down the stretch to prevail.

“This is a good win for us. We are in a good district and these close games will help us,” said Pontillo. “We’ve had a lot of close games this season that is good for us. We only had one starter back this season and only a couple of guys that played a lot. We’re headed in the right direction.”

Ernie Righetti is in his 26^th season as head coach at Roeper. His team has suffered the affects of losing nine players to graduation. The Roughriders only brought back one player who saw significant minutes last season, and that was Gorland.

“We’re struggling,” admitted Righetti. “We have some talented kids, but we haven’t learned how to win these close games. We’ve been in some games that were close in the third or fourth quarters, but then we make some mistakes and other teams (pull away).

“I haven’t had a losing season in 26 years, but that’s in jeopardy,” added Righetti. “We’re just struggling on the offensive end. We held a team to only 40 points, but we didn’t have the offense to match it. Our best players are really struggling shooting the basketball right now.”

Junior Duriajaiye Lewis, a transfer from Detroit U-D Jesuit, led Roeper with 18 points while Gorland added 12 points and nine rebounds. Nick Robinson also added 10 boards, as the Roughriders dominated on the glass, 25-16.

Sophomore Nathan Drews, Northwest’s only returning starter, scored 17 points and his total included a trio of three-pointers. Rathore added 12 points, all from outside the arc, while both Morrison and senior forward Michael Miller added six points apiece.

Drews nailed a pair of threes in the first quarter, where Northwest rolled out to a 10-3 lead after eight minutes of play. Roeper responded by attacking the glass, with Lewis scoring 11 in the first-half, including nine points in the second quarter, in helping the Roughriders grab their five-point led at the half.

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Category: Prep Wraps, Rochester Hills Lutheran NW