By By SCOTT NOVAK / Niles Daily Star
DOWAGIAC - Visiting Niles got just what the doctor ordered here Friday night - a victory.
The Vikings posted a 67-51 Big 16 Conference West Division victory over host Dowagiac Friday night before a large and enthusiast crowd.
The final score looks much closer than the contest was for much of the second half after the Vikings broke the game open.
Niles led by as many as 31 points, 60-29, in the opening minute of the fourth quarter.
Dowagiac began to whittle away at the Vikings' lead, cutting it to 12 points, 60-36, with 5:09 remaining.
Niles regrouped and maintained their comfortable lead the remainder of the contest.
The second half was much calmer than the first 16 minutes of the contest.
Emotions were running high throughout the first and second quarter, which culminated with the ejection of Dowagiac coach Greg Blomgren with 3:08 remaining in the half after his second technical foul.
Blomgren, who had no comment after the game about the officiating, picked up his first technical with 3:59 to play in the second quarter.
After Niles scored the opening basket of the game, Dowagiac opened up a quick 5-2 lead on a three-pointer by freshman Jamie Simpson and a jumper by sophomore Chris Primley.
Niles quickly cut the lead to 5-4 on a layup by Nick Etzcorn at the 5:54 mark.
Niles grabbed the lead 52 seconds later on a jumper by Paul Wreggelsworth.
the lead see-sawed back and fourth for the next two minutes, before Niles grabbed a 10-9 advantage on a jumper with 3:10 to play in the opening quarter.
Niles built the lead to 15-9 with 2:48 to play in the period on a layup.
The lead increased to 19-15 by quarter's end and then grew to 26-15 at the 5:26 mark of the second quarter on a jumper by Lavette Walker.
Niles continued to pull away from the Chieftains, upping their advantage to 38-19 following a three-pointer by Tom Robson with 2:10 to play.
Dowagiac scored the final three points of the half to close to 38-22 at the intermission.
It was all Niles in the third quarter as it outscored Dowagiac 20-7 to open up a 58-29 lead entering the final eight minutes of action.
The Vikings' lead reached 20 points, 44-24, with 4:35 remaining in the period and remained around 20 points for the final four minutes of the quarter.
Once Niles opened up their 31-point advantage, Niles coach Denny Parks felt his team relaxed a little too much allowing Dowagiac to close the gap.
Dowagiac made one more charge at the Vikings, but could not convert on enough field goal attempts to cut the lead under double digits.
Isaiah Jones got the lead down to 12 points with just over five minutes to play, but that would be as close as the Chieftains would get.
Niles shot 44 percent from the field on the night (22-of-50) and was 20-of-30 (66.7 percent) from the free throw line.
Dowagiac shot 34 percent for the game (19-of-56) and was just 9-of-14 from the charity stripe.
The Vikings and Chieftains were deadlocked with 37 rebounds apiece, and Niles committed three more turnovers than Dowagiac (20-17).
Robson led all scorers with 14 points, while Nate Parks finished with 13 points and eight assists. Etzcorn finished with eight points and seven rebounds.
Pete Brandstatter also had seven rebounds to go along with six points. Walker, who left the floor late in the game with a possible concussion, scored six points, as did Wreggelsworth.
Dowagiac was led by Jones' 13 points. Primley, who picked up his first dunk, added 10 points and nine rebounds. Simpson grabbed seven rebounds and scored six points.
Shawn Irvin came off the bench to score nine points and grab six rebounds.
Niles also won the freshmen and junior varsity contests as well.
The Viking freshmen defeated Dowagiac 70-36.
Niles outscored Dowagiac 35-10 in the second half to break open a close contest.
Zak Hermann led the Vikings with 13 points, while Nolan Donning added 12 points. Andre White finished with eight points and Matt Hudson seven.
In the junior varsity contest, Niles outscored Dowagiac 33-19 over the first three quarters to cruise to a 53-35 win.
Daniel Rodts led Niles with 13 points. Joshua Beers finished with 10 points.
Dowagiac got seven points apiece from Andrew Cuthbert and Nick File.
NILES 67
Tom Robson 5 2-3 14, Ben Hansen 1 2-2 4, Nate Parks 1 10-12 13, Paul Wreggelsworth 3 0-0 6, Nick Etzcorn 4 0-5 8, Nate Orr 1 2-2 4, Scott Quaye 0 2-2 2, Kelby Jeminson 0 0-0 0, Pete Brandstatter 3 0-0 7, Lavette Walker 3 0-2 6, Andrew Foster 0 0-0 0, Brandon Thomas 1 2-2 4. Totals: 22 20-30 67
DOWAGIAC 51
Isaiah Jones 4 4-4 13, Jamere Bacon 2 0-1 4, Jamie Simpson 2 0-0 6, Michael DeRose 3 0-0 7, Chris Primley 4 2-2 10, David Stuppy 0 0-0 0, Amos clark 0 2-3 2, Oscar Wilson 0 0-0 0, Jesse Cox 0 0-0 0, Shawn Irvin 4 1-4 9. Totals: 19 9-14 51
Niles 19 38 58 67
Dowagiac 15 22 29 51
Three-point baskets: Robson (N) 2, Parks (N), Jones (D), Simpson (D) 2, DeRose (D). Total fouls: Niles 17, Dowagiac 17. Fouled out: None. Technical fouls: Dowagiac bench 2.