Not many in attendance Friday night would have believed prior to the Niles-Benton Harbor boys’ basketball team that the Vikings could shoot the ball better than they did in their season opener Tuesday night.

But that’s exactly what Niles did in its 74-54 victory over the Tigers in a key Big 16 West Division contest Friday night.

The Vikings were 32-of-60 (53 percent) in their season opener against Portage Central. Against the Tigers Friday night, Niles was even better, shooting 27-of-44 (60 percent). The Vikings hit 20-of-29 2-point baskets and were 7-of-15 from beyond the arc.

Niles was also able to hold its on in the rebounding department against the taller Benton Harbor, something that wasn’t lost of Vikings coach Todd Pawielski.

“We have a little saying, four to the boards on offense and then get them out on defense,” he said. “I thought we lived up to both of those tonight. Myles Busby (six rebounds) did a great job of getting the ball out of the air and Quintin (Irby) and Taylor (Campbell) did a good job of getting to their man and sealing it off.”

The Vikings brought great energy to the opening 16 minutes of play and the Tigers were unable to match it.

Niles scored the first seven points of the contest on a basket by Busby, who was making his first start of the year, a basket by Irby and a 3-pointer by Campbell.

Benton Harbor would rally back and knot the game at 7-7 midway through the period on a basket by Tyrone Rolfe. The Tigers opened the game with back-to-back air balls against the Niles defense, but the play of Roy Napier helped calm them down as he scored the first five points for Benton Harbor.

The Vikings would build a 21-12 advantage in the closing minute of the quarter only to have the Tigers come storming back. And when Devin Alexander was fouled hitting a 3-pointer with 4.4 ticks left on the clock, Benton Harbor was back in the game as he hit the additional free throw to make it 21-17 heading to the second quarter.

Just as he did in the season opener, Campbell provided a spark offensively for Niles. His 3-pointer would extend the Vikings’ lead to 26-17 and his 2-point basket a minute later gave Niles a double digit lead, 28-17.

Niles continued to pour it on as the Tigers struggled at the offensive end of the court and didn’t have many answers at the defensive end either.

Austin Parks scored with 1:49 left in the first half to make it 35-19 and Alexander Brown’s 3-pointer with 27 second remaining made it 38-21. Benton Harbor would get the last basket of the first half to make it 38-23.

Things didn’t get much better for the Tigers in the third quarter. After scoring the first basket to cut the lead to 13 points, Niles would outscore Benton Harbor 17-3 over the next three-plus minutes to make it a 55-25 contest.

Napier’s 3-pointer with 3:51 left in the quarter stopped the bleeding for the Tigers, who then put together a little run. Benton Harbor got a 3-pointer by Damarcus Davis to make it 57-31 and another basket to trim the lead down to 57-33.

However, a three-point play by Irby with 1:04 left pushed the lead back up to 60-33 and Niles settled for a 60-35 advantage heading to the final quarter.

The Tigers couldn’t make much headway to start the fourth quarter and so with three and a half minutes remaining in the contest the Vikings emptied the bench and began the countdown to a second straight victory.

Niles placed all five starters in double figures, led by McLaughlin and Parks with 15 each. Busby and Irby each had 13 points, while Campbell finished with 10. Parks and McLaughlin led the Vikings with five and four assists respectively. The two combined for seven of Niles’ 11 steals.

“I thought with the exception of about two minutes in the third quarter when we didn’t contest very well, the kids did a nice job defensively,” Pawielski said.

Roy Napier led the Tigers (0-2, 0-2 West) with 15 points. T.J. Morris added 10.

BENTON HARBOR 54

Deontae Whitfield 0 0-0 0; Terrance Smith 0 3-4 3; Roy Napier 6 0-0 16; Yantrell McDowell 1 1-1 3; Cory Miles 0 0-0 0; Damarcus Davis 2 0-0 5; Devin Alexander 3 1-1 8; Raheem Franklin 1 0-0 2; T.J. Morris 3 4-6 10; Tyrone Rolfe 2 0-0 4; Michael Dyson 2 0-2 4; Fred Gilmore IV 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 20 14-15 54

NILES 74

Myles Busby 3 6-6 13; Matthew McLaughlin 5 3-3 15; Austin Parks 7 0-0 15; Logan Harpenau 0 0-0 0; Alexander Brown 1 0-0 3; Aaron Pierce 1 0-0 2; Arias Williams 0 1-4 1; Anthony Bice 1 0-0 2; Taylor Campbell 4 0-0 10; Quintin Irby 5 3-8 13; Mitchell Dehn 0 0-0 0. TOTALS: 27 13-21 74

Benton Harbor 17 23 35 54

Niles 21 38 60 74

3-point baskets: Benton Harbor 5 (Napier 3, Miles, Davis), Niles 7 (Busby, McLaughlin 2, Parks 1, Brown 1, Campbell 2). Total fouls (fouled out): Benton Harbor 15 (none), Niles 16 (none). Varsity records: Benton Harbor 0-2, 0-2 West; Niles 2-0, 2-0 West