University rode the hot shooting of juniors Sam Mervis and Max Greenamoyer to a 61-48 win over Speedway Saturday night at The U Center.
Mervis had a career-high 21 points including making all nine free throw attempts. Mervis led the Blazers in assists (seven) and rebounds (six). Greenamoyer also had a career high with 17 points, including five 3-point baskets.
The Class 1A eighth ranked Trailblazers improved to 3-1 with the win, while the Sparkplugs fell to 1-2.
Speedway led just once, 9-7, for 12 seconds before a Nate Shatkowski 3-pointer gave University the lead for good. University held a three-point advantage after the first quarter and steadily stretched the lead throughout the game.
“We managed the end of the game well tonight” said University coach Brandon Lafferman. “Sam Mervis had a great game and did a phenomenal job knocking down free throws.” Mervis made seven free throws as part of his 11-point fourth-quarter outburst.
“All 10 players contributed tonight and played their role. We had a good weekend,” concluded Laffterman.
University is off until next weekend when they will have a pair of home games. Friday night the Blazers host sectional opponent Bethesda Christian and welcome Pioneer Conference North rival Liberty Christian on Saturday evening in the nightcap of a girl-boy doubleheader.
University 61, Speedway 48
University FG FT TP PF
Sam Mervis 6-9 9-9 21 1
Max Greenamoyer 6-9 0-0 17 2
Jacob Sager 0-0 0-1 0 5
Camden Brown 1-5 0-0 2 2
Joe Martin 3-8 1-2 8 3
Nate Shatkowski 1-4 0-0 3 0
Eric Major 4-4 2-2 10 3
Korey Ash-Simpson 0-1 0-0 0 0
Quinn Steiner 0-2 0-1 0 0
Eyal Friedman 0-0 0-0 0 1
Matt Jones 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 21-42 12-15 61 17
Score by Quarters
Speedway 9 13 8 18 – 48
University 12 14 15 20 – 61
University 3-point shooting (7-16) Greenamoyer 5-8, Martin 1-3, Shatkowski 1-3, Steiner 0-2.
University rebounds (26) Mervis 6, Shatkowski 4, Friedman 4, Brown 3, Sager 3, Greenamoyer 2, Steiner 2, Major 1, Martin 1.