EDINBURGH — The Edinburgh boys basketball had its struggles shooting the ball offensively in its final tuneup Thursday night against visiting Brown County.
But with the offense struggling to put points on the board, the Lancers defense made up for it. Edinburgh allowed its second-lowest scoring output of the season in coasting to a 46-28 victory.
The Eagles kept the game close, but a 14-2 run by the Lancers over in the final two-and-a-half minutes of the third quarter that proved to be the difference in the game.
“We didn’t shoot very well tonight, but you’re going to have those nights. We locked in well defensively,” Edinburgh coach Keith Witty said. “It helped us get the win when we needed it. We got stops defensively and attacked at the other end.”
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Jordan Myers got the Lancers (10-12) going in the first quarter. He gave Brown County (3-17) fits in the paint early on, scoring eight early points and helping Edinburgh to an 11-5 lead. The Eagles came back with back-to-back 3-pointers from Caleb Yager to end the quarter on a 6-2 run and trail only 13-11.
Brown County tied the game with an Aaron McCann basket to start the second quarter. Bryce Burton converted a basket, and a Coltan Henderson 3-point basket extended the Lancers lead 18-13.
McCann cut the deficit to 18-15 with about 2 1/2 minutes left in the second quarter. The score remained that way at halftime with both teams unable to find the basket in the final two minutes.
Edinburgh extended the lead to 22-15 to start the third quarter, but the Eagles came back with a 3-pointer from Yager to make it 22-18, setting up the Lancers’ 14-2 run to end the third quarter.
“We stopped guarding, and it’s so disappointing because we were frustrated offensively,” Brown County coach John Berning said. “Offensively, when we got good shots, we didn’t hit them. Unfortunately, we didn’t take care of the ball, either. We turned it over too many times.”
The Eagles didn’t have enough offensive attack in the fourth quarter to threaten Edinburgh’s path to victory.
Burton had a game-high 14 points for the Lancers, while Darius Bennett finished with 11 and Myers added 10. For Brown County, Yager finished with a team-high 12 points, and McCann added nine.
