Rockford Wins the Nail-Biter
55-54
Advance Newspapers
Rockford went on the road and had to
compete not only against an improving West Ottawa squad, but they
had to do it in the Panthers' home den.
A boisterous crowd of nearly
2,000 pink-clad fans wore pink as part of a school fund-raiser for
the American Cancer Society. The Rams built a 10-point fourth-quarter
lead only to see the Panthers come roaring back with a chance to
win at the buzzer. However, Jorddan Myrick's 3-point attempt clanged
off the back of the iron and the Rams escaped with a 55-54 win.
Rockford
jumped on the host Panthers early and often in route to taking a
19-10 lead after one quarter of play. West Ottawa trimmed the lead
to 29-25 at the half.
The third stanza saw the Rams build
the lead back up to a seemingly commanding 47-37 margin. The Panthers
came roaring back in the final period, but the Rams escaped with
a key O-K Red road victory.
Matt Karamol led Rockford in scoring
with 21 points and Ryan Majerle added 19. Majerle who is the son
of coach Steve Majerle and nephew of former NBA/ Phoenix Suns standout
Dan Majerle, also had three treys in the game.
Coach Majerle was happy
to win, but thought it should have been much easier. "We just
about put the nail in the coffin," he said. "We
had two bad fourth-quarter turnovers. If we had taken (better) care
of the ball, I think we could have put them away." Rockford
improved to 8-4 overall, 7-2 in the Red.
