ST. JOSEPH – David Garner scored a game-high 20 points to lead visiting Niles to a 64-44 over St. Joseph in the Big 16 Conference West Division opener for both teams.

The Vikings (1-1, 1-0 West) got off to a great start, scoring 24 points in the first quarter.

Niles had a 17-0 run in the quarter to break open the contest.

St. Joseph managed just eight points in the first stanza, but rallied to cut the Vikings’ lead to 36-28 by halftime.

“We got off to a fast start and that certainly helped the cause tonight,” Niles coach Todd Pawielski said. “We were real solid offensively in the half court. We were able to cause some problems when we went to our full-court pressure. It was a great quarter. I don’t think we can play much better.”

While the first quarter was good for Niles, the second one was not.

“We started standing around and shooting jump shots and St. Joe got right back in it,” Pawielski said.

The Bears (1-1, 0-1 West) used a 16-0 run in the second quarter to get back into the contest.

Niles got back into the flow in the second half, outscoring St. Joseph 28-16 and pulling away to the 20-point victory.

The Vikings got solid play in the front court from Jordan Potthoff, Quinton Irby, Riley Robson and Myles Busby as they banged with St. Joseph’s bigger players.

Niles was able to limit Dave Brennan and Sean Guinane to 16 points after they scored a combined 46 points in the Bears’ opening night victory.

“We were undersized, but we were banging and clawing and battling with St. Joe’s big guys,” Pawielski said. Those guys really did a whale of a job guarding St. Joe’s big kids.”
Besides his 20 points, Garner also had five steals. Busby finished with 14 points and Matthew McLaughlin added seven points and four assists.

“I thought McLaughlin was steady all night at the guard position,” Pawielski said. “He played a real good all-around game.”

Jeremy Rush led the Bears with 13 points. Brennan added 11.

Niles takes on Penn next Tuesday and then jumps back into West Division action against visiting Benton Harbor on Friday, Dec. 18.

NILES 64
Matthew McLaughlin 2 2-2 7, Riley Robson 0 0-0 0, Zak Prenkert 0 0-0 0, Myles Busby 5 2-4 14, Justin Potthoff 0 0-0 0, Nick Lucero 1 0-0 2, Mitch Peterek 0 0-0 0, Jordan Potthoff 1 0-0 2, David Garner 9 2-2 20, Austin Parks 4 4-4 13, Quinton Irby 3 0-0 6. TOTALS: 25 10-12 64
ST. JOSEPH 44
Chris Pfahler 0 0-0 0, Nick Piggee 3 0-0 7, Jeremy Rush 4 3-3 13, Josh Schaffer 1 0-0 2, Josh Akins 0 0-0 0, Josh Fagras 0 0-0 0, Steve Ross 0 0-0 0, Devonte Jones 1 1-2 4, Dave Brennan 5 0-1 11, Sean Guinane 2 1-2 5, Curtis Punches 0 0-0 0, Matt Reimlard 1 0-0 2. TOTALS: 17 5-8 44

Niles 24 36 49 64
St. Joe 8 28 34 44
3-point baskets: Niles 4 (McLaughlin 1, Busby 2, Parks 1), St. Joseph 5 (Piggee 1, Rush 2, Jones 1, Bennan 1). Total fouls: Niles 14, St. Joseph 15. Fouled out: Piggee (SJ). Varsity record: Niles 1-1, 1-0 West Division