Hudsonville 59, Rockford 54: Levi Lubbers scores 19 in OK Red win

By Tim Wing | twing@mlive.com on February 06, 2015 11:35 PM

Hudsonville’s Levi Lubbers scored 19 points, including four 3-pointers, to help his team edge Rockford 59-54 on Friday.

“He had his best game as a varsity player,” Hudsonville coach Eric Elliott said. “He stepped up and big game for us.”

Brent Hibbitts added 16 points and nine rebounds, and Jared Blum scored 10 points, and Elliot said he was pleased with the offensive balance.

“It’s actually something that we struggled with, but we’ve gotten some guys to step up and we’ve been able to get that third or fourth guy into double figures,” Elliott said.

Elliott added that Hudsonville (8-5 overall, 3-2 OK Red) used smart clock management in the fourth quarter to hold off Rockford (5-8, 3-2).

“We were able to take some time off the clock and force them to foul us, and we managed the clock really well,” Elliott said. “We had a difficult time getting a grip on them, but we battled and made the plays down the stretch. It was a two-point game with a minute to go, but we made our free throws.”

Hudsonville next hosts Wyoming on Tuesday.

“We expect a battle,” Elliott said. “We know they play a high-paced game, and we are looking forward to the challenge.”