PUEBLO, Colo. - When the scoreboard read
"ThunderWolves 27, Adams State Grizzlies 10" midway through the
first half, nobody seemed to believe it - not even the Pack
players. Though the Grizzlies, who came in with a 12-5 mark,
eventually caught back up to the ThunderWolves to make it a game,
the Pack eventually bought in to the fact that they were beating
the Grizzlies up and down the court and held on to turn in a 73-68
win Tuesday.
After that hot start, the Grizzlies did go on a run to make in
interesting, closing the gap to 35-27 by halftime, setting up a
fiery second half that saw the Grizzlies shoot themselves in the
foot on multiple occasions when they were getting close to
overtaking the lead.
As the ThunderWolves led 63-49 with 5:39 remaining, the Grizzlies
went on a run that defied convention. Adams State committed two
technicals, the first on coach Mark Murdock and then
another on an intentional foul by Sean Amos, the kept them from
getting close to the Pack.
Unfazed, they went on an 8-1 run to close the gap to seven, then
made a late charge to trim the lead to three with just 46 seconds
remaining, relying largely on turnovers created by a full-court
press.
But the ThunderWolves were able to play ball control, eventually
sealing the game when Brian
Sewald took down a big offensive board with six second left,
drawing an immediate foul that sent Rome
Smith to the line to secure the win.
The Pack's win was a complete team effort - five ThunderWolves
scored in double figures, and three of those five - Sewald, Chris Childress and Jake
Trahern, each took down more than seven rebounds, allowing the
Pack to dominate the inside post game. Their tough play countered a
game that was quite ugly, for all intents and purposes, as both
teams to committ 47 fouls and 26 turnovers.
"We play ugly," Pack coach Patrick Eberhart admitted. "But when it gets close,
we have confidence that we can get the job done."
The ThunderWolves used a similar blueprint that allowed them to get
two conference wins during last weekend's road trip to New Mexico -
come out with all guns blazing. The Pack got an early lead in those
two wins over Western New Mexico and New Mexico Highlands, and did
the same against a very tough Adams State team. The trick, Eberhart
said, is learning to play with the lead.
"We haven't been in the lead much, and we need to figure out how to
play to protect the lead," Eberhart said. "But we came out excited
and played with a lot of passion, and we're just playing very good
team basketball right now."
The ThunderWolves do find themselves in the midst of the RMAC
Western Division race. The win, their third straight, improves
their conference mark to 4-6 and 7-10 overall. They are just two
games behind Adams State for second place in the Western
Division.
The Pack will look to make it four straight Thursday when Western
State comes to town.
