By By MICHAEL BASHARA / Dowagiac Daily News
EDWARDSBURG -- The Buchanan basketball team improved to 15-1 Tuesday night as it defeated host Edwardsburg 74-49 in Lakeland Conference action.
Buchanan took an early lead when Zach Bonham posted up inside and scored. Bonham then added a free throw on Buchanan's next possession to tie the score at 3-3.
Buchanan then built a 10-5 lead as Quinton Buish got a rebound basket and Tony Robinson scored on a 15-foot jump shot.
Nathan Peak started the scoring for Edwardsburg when he hit a 3-pointer on Edwardsburg's second possession. After Buchanan's run Edwardsburg had a short run of its own, and the Eddies had their second lead of the night late in the first quarter at 13-12.
Buchanan regained the lead at 14-13, and was never behind again.
Buish had a big game for Buchanan, scoring inside for 21 points and grabbing monster rebounds.
Robinson started the second quarter by sinking a jump shot to put Buchanan up 18-15. Then DuJuan Bennett came off the bench to score 10 points in the second quarter as Buchanan stretched its lead to 35-26 at halftime.
While Robinson scored more than his average of 16 points, he is Buchanan's third leading scorer behind Buish and Bennett, who scored 18 points off the bench.
When asked about the play of these two players McBeth said, "Ask them if it's their career high. I'm not sure, but they might know. Then they might not. That's the kind of team this is. No one cares how much they score. They only want to win."
Buchanan had a big third period, outscoring Edwardsburg 26-11. Robinson had 10 points in the third quarter, and Bryant hit a 3-pointer from behind the center line at the buzzer.
The fourth quarter saw Buchanan stretch the lead 30 points, 71-41, before both teams emptied their benches.
Buchanan, which has had a grueling series of games in the last two weeks, now has a week off before hosting Bridgman next Tuesday.
Edwardsburg will travel to Brandywine Friday.
The junior varsity game was won by Edwardsburg, 60-56. It was a tight game all they way. Buchanan was led by Doug Summers with 17 points, and Eric Cole added 10 points.
The Buchanan freshmen also lost a tough game, 45-41. Andrew Fredrick lead the freshmen with 10 points, and Damian Bryant added nine.
Buchanan….74
Edwardsburg….49
Buchanan: Rodney Tembo 0 0-0 0, Brian Shannon 2 1-2 7, P.J. Pollock 0 1-2 1, Quinton Buish 9 3-5 21, Tony Robinson 5 6-9 16, DuJuan Bennett 8 2-3 18, Brandon Kyles 0 0-0 0, Jacob Brown 1 0-0 2, Gordon Bryant 3 0-0 7, Jared Rusher 0 0-0 0, Karl Schmidt 0 0-0 0, Raylin Hinds 0 0-0 0, Zach Bonham 2 1-2 5. Totals: 30 13-23 74
Edwardsburg: Anthony Peak 1 0-2 2, Chris Nugent 0 0-0 0, Derek Tighe 3 2-3 8, Ryan Haines1 0-0 3, Robbie Sevison 0 0-0 0, Nathan Peak 3 0-0 8, Phil Bretschneider 1 0-2 2, Doug Shuttleworth 2 1-3 5, Nick Roth 3 3-3 10, Matt Horvath 1 1-3 3, Rick Finley 0 0-0 0, Zach Rooney 4 0-0 8. Totals: 19 7-14 49
Buchanan 16 19 26 13--74
Edwardsburg 15 11 11 12--49
3-point shooting: Buchanan 1 (Bryant), Edwardsburg 4 (N. Peak 2, Roth, Haines). Team fouls (fouled out): Buchanan 18 (none), Edwardsburg 18 (Nugent). Team records: Buchanan 15-1 (10-1 Lakeland), Edwardsburg 6-9 (3-6)