By By TOM NYHUIS / Niles Daily Star
BUCHANAN – Free throw shooting once again played the role in Buchanan's loss to Berrien Springs in Lakeland Conference basketball action. The Shamrocks came a way with a 45-38 league win at Buchanan Friday night.
Berrien Spring went to the line 25 times in the game, hitting just over half, 13. On the other end of the court, the Bucks would only step to the charity stripe eight times, hitting four buckets.
Each team hit 14 shots from the field with the Bucks holding the advantage, knocking down six 3-pointers. Berrien put down four from behind the arc.
Avery Brown led all scorers with 14 points sinking four from 3-point land. Derek Anglero finished the night with 10 points connecting with two trey's.
"I was pleased with the way our kids responded," Buchanan coach Reid McBeth said in reference to the limited trips to the free throw line. "In a game like that and your not getting to the foul line you just got to keep battling and our kids battled the whole time."
Buchanan held the lead after the first quarter, 9-7, but found themselves down by two at the half 21-19. In the third quarter Berrien pushed their lead to 30-22 with just under three minutes to play.
The Bucks answered back with eight unanswered points to tie the game at 30 to head into the final quarter.
In the second half, the Bucks defense held Berrien to just 13 points on six field goals the rest of their points came from the free throw line in the fourth quarter hitting 9-of-18. Buchanan shot 60 percent from inside the arc but could only hit 24 percent from 3-point line.
For the Shamrocks, Matt Demler led the team with 13 points and Robert Walker scored 12 in the game.
Berrien will take on Bridgman next Tuesday. Buchanan will host Marcellus next Tuesday in a non-league contest.
Junior varsity and freshmen
Buchanan's junior varsity team took a 44-41 win over the Shamrocks. Jeff Jerue scored 14 for the Bucks and Tony Atangana had 14 for Berrien.
Berrien Springs freshmen took a big 70-30 victory over Buchanan with Tevin Glaspy scoring 21 points. Justin Parm finish the night with nine points for the young Bucks squad.