MANKATO — The No. 2-ranked Mankato East boys basketball team relied on its tenacious defense to fuel an explosive 24-4 burst Thursday night and disposed of Northfield 88-54 in a Big Nine Conference game at the East gym.
After Malcolm Poole’s 3-pointer and Kayden Oakland’s layup pulled the Raiders (8-8, 7-4 in Big Nine) even at 20 midway through the first half, senior guard Manaow Omot’s top-of-the-key 3-pointer began an impressive ending to the first half for the Cougars.
Senior guard Dwayne Bryant followed with a pair of slicing drives before sophomore guard Amari Nobles nailed a left-wing 3-pointer.
“We were seeking the open shots early on, but then we settled down and things started picking up,” said Omot, who finished with a team-best 19 points. “We were able to pick up the tempo a little bit. We just really get after it on defense and once we get that going, the offensive part takes over.
“All the players in our rotation play hard and we’re all thinking the same thing about how we can help the team in any way. We’re always all with each other whenever we step on the court and it’s a great environment.”
East (15-1, 6-1) expanded its lead to 44-24 behind Omot’s nine-point flurry — left-side 3-pointer, a twisting drive, a layup off a turnover and a crashing-to-the-floor drive — along with a pair of 3-pointers from sophomore guard Lucas Gustafson.
Senior wing Carson Schweim, who pulled down a team-best seven rebounds, put through 13 of his 15 points as the Cougars took a 48-31 lead at the break.
“I think it is just confidence at this point,” said Gustafson, who nailed four 3-pointers in scoring 13 points. “We kind of destroyed them down there, but they came in here and made some shots early on. Our defense is all over the place in doubling and getting turnovers. The key to our defense is ball pressure.
“I try to come in and give us a spark. I have a lot of confidence in my role on this team. You look to keep getting your teammates to do what they’ve been doing and keep cheering them on.”
East, which forced 23 turnovers while committing only four, received 13 points and four assists from junior guard Brogan Madson, while Nobles and Bryant chipped in nine and eight points respectively.
Junior wing Ganden Goxch added seven points and four assists for the Cougars, who connected on 33 of 66 from the field for 50% compared to Northfield’s 20 of 42 for 47.6%.
“We’re able to wear people down with what we can do offensively,” East coach Joe Madson said. “I thought are defense was a little flat to start and didn’t have that intensity we usually have. We stepped on the gas on both ends of the floor in the second half. Our execution, defense and rebounding were all better in the second half.
“These guys are staying hungry and that’s what we need to do. We’ve got a lot of guys who can pass and take care of the ball so I love the numbers we get when we’re sharing the ball. We don’t care who scores and that makes us pretty hard to guard.”
East looks to avenge its lone loss of the season Tuesday at Rochester Century.