By By MICHAEL BASHARA / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN --The Buchanan varsity basketball team moved to 10-1 on the season by beating Berrien Springs 52-38 in Lakeland Conference action Friday night.
Buchanan ran off an early seven-point run to take a 9-2 lead.
Brian Shannon hit a 3-point basket from the top of the key to start the run. Gordon Bryant and Tony Robinson each hit two shots in the first period for the Bucks.
The second period saw Buchanan play with a lot of different players. The Bucks also saw their hot shooting from the first quarter fall off, going 2-for-10 in the second quarter. Robinson hit a jump shot and Bryant sank a three for the Bucks. Buish hit 1-of-2 free throws for the Bucks' seven points.
Berrien scored 10 points in the second quarter to go into halftime down 21-20.
Buchanan's coach Reid McBeth was called for a technical foul midway through the second quarter. This limited the coach's ability to communicate with his team during the game.
The third period saw both teams come back with their starters. Berrien started out scoring two baskets to Buchanan's one early in the first half of the third period. Berrien tied the score 24-24 with just 3:48 left to play in the third quarter.
Buchanan had a big quarter after the tie. Bryant hit a 3-pointer on the next possession to put Buchanan up 27-24. The Bucks outscored Berrien 15-2 in the final minutes of the quarter. Zach Bonham scored twice inside. Shannon hit his second 3-pointer for the night, and Jacob Brown got a rebound basket and made the free throw for a three-point play.
The fourth quarter saw both teams empty their benches and Buchanan outscored Berrien 13-12 in the final quarter.
Buchanan got 14 points from its bench.
The Bucks are now ninth in state in Class C.
The Bucks host Michigan City Marquette tonight, starting with a freshmen game at 4 p.m. Then they travel to Eau Claire on Tuesday before returning to Lakeland Conference action with their makeup game with Cassopolis on Wednesday.
The Junior Varsity game was also won by Buchanan, 54-48. P.J. Pollock led the Bucks with 19 points. Eric Cole added 15 points.
The freshmen game was won by Berrien Springs, 60-42. Terrell Tucker had eight points to lead the Buchanan freshmen.
Buchanan………….52
Berrien Springs….38
Buchanan: Rodney Tembo 0 0-0 0, Brian Shannon 2 1-2 7, Kyle Tracy 0 0-0 0, Quinton Buish 1 2-4 4, Tony Robinson 4 1-2 9, DuJuan Bennett 0 2-2 2, Brandon Kyles 1 0-0 2, Jacob Brown 1 1-1 3, Gordon Bryant 6 0-0 14, Jared Rusher 1 0-0 2, Karl Schmidt 1 3-4 5, Raylin Hinds 0 0-1 0, Zach Bonham 2 0-0 4. Totals: 19 10-16 52
Berrien Springs: Jeremy Eddie 1 0-0 2, James Lockett 5 0-0 10, Von Bontrager 0 1-2 1, John Chansa 1 4-5 6, Jason Leitz 3 0-0 6, Nolan Martin 0 0-0 0, Shelby Wood 1 1-2 4, Ben Collard 0 0-0 0, Vince Ruhumuliza 3 3-6 9. Totals: 14 9-15 38.
Buchanan 14 7 18 13--52
Berrien Springs 10 10 6 12--38
3-point shooting: Buchanan 4 (Bryant 2, Shannon 2), Berrien Springs 1 (Wood). Team fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 14 (none), Berrien Springs 16 (Ruhumuliza). Team records: Buchanan 10-1 (7-1 Lakeland), Berrien Springs 3-10 (1-7)