Mt’neers battle but fall in Lamar

In the second game of the night it was the boys time to go at it. Chase Querry started things off for the Tigers getting a bucket early before Mt. Vernon answered with a bucket from Juliun Hernandez and a three from Jarrett Zerby to take a 6-4 lead. After a free throw, a Pixenburg three we were knotted up at seven all. Landon Jones got things going in part of a 7-0 Mt. Vernon run with five himself to double up Lamar 14-7 midway through the quarter. Then Lamar star guard Ian Ngugi got going with seven straight to end the opening quarter with a 17-15 Lamar advantage.
Tight play continued in the second, leading to a 29-26 Lamar lead heading into the half.
Mt. Vernon opened the third quarter with a bit of a run led by Zerby, but Ian Ngugi responded and tied the game back at 33. Then Ngugi really got going as Lamar raced to a 12-0 run led by defense from the Tigers that led to easy points. Ngugi started fast breaks with steals on back-to-back possessions that resulted in points. He got five then Trent Tabakian got five of his own. After another Ngugi basket the score sat at 45-33 before Hernandez hit a pair of free throws to end the Lamar run, but a three from Eli Ngugi ended the quarter with a 48-34 Lamar advantage.
The Mt’neers had no quit in them as they exploded to open the fourth quarter. Mt’neers Jones and Zerby combined for the first seven points of the quarter to cut the deficit to 48-41. Querry hit a pair of free throws and Hernandez got a layup to fall before more adversity struck when leading scorer Jarrett Zerby picked up his fifth foul on a charge call. Mt. Vernon kept it competitive, but ultimately Lamar was able to close it out with an and-one from Ngugi for his 16th point of the game and defeat the pesky Mt’neers, 57-45.
Mt. Vernon falls to 5-4 for the year and will be back in action Thursday when they take on Hollister and Spokane.