Photo Courtesy of Crystal Junck Tyson Junck does his best to disrupt a Creighton shot during road action last week. Both teams played tight defense throughout the game.

Cards come up one-point short at Creighton

CREIGHTON — Randolph and Creighton were neck and neck all game long in their Friday night Lewis and Clark Conference contest.

The game was close throughout with 11 lead changes.

The home team worked the floor and clock to its advantage to make sure the Bulldogs were on top for the final lead change of the night to earn the 52-51 Lewis and Clark Conference win.

Randolph had a chance to win in the final seconds but the Creighton defense got in the way of a Cardinal pass to force a turnover and seal the one-point win.

The loss marks the Cards first loss of 2020 and only the second in the Cards’ last eight games.

Randolph has been a new team since late December, putting together a 6-2 mark since Dec. 19.

Creighton took the lead with just over 2:30 left when Alex Homan made a rebound and put-back.

A minute later, Braxton Brockhaus found Brennan Pint open in the corner and Pint fired a 3-pointer for a 52-48 lead.

Justin Haselhorst made 1-2 free throws moments later. That was followed by a Randolph steal and Haselhorst layup to cut the Cardinal deficit to just one point.

Randolph had two 3-point attempts in the final seconds, but a foul on a rebound gave the Cards one more chance.

Randolph then inbounded the ball but the pass was batted away by Clay Curtis, and Carson Lilly chased and grabbed the loose ball just before it went out of bounds as the buzzer sounded handing Randolph an ’L’.

The Cardinal offense was led by a balanced attack as four players hit for double-digits. Keaton Backhaus, and Jamison Svehla both hit for 14 points, while Haselhorst added 13 and Carter Schnoor chipped in with 10.

Creighton freshman John Mitchell dropped in a game-high 19 points to lead the Bulldogs.

Mitchell’s play in the second quarter was key to the Bulldogs’ success. He got hit in the frame, connecting for 10 straight points, including a buzzer-beating drive to the basket, to help turn what was a 10-5 deficit into a 17-13 lead early in the second quarter.

Randolph 13 15 11 12 — 51

Creighton 14 14 10 14 — 52

Randolph Creighton

FG 9-24 16-31

3Pt 10-26 6-19

FT 3-4 2-2

Reb 22 25

TOs 8 6

SCORING

Randolph - Keaton Backhaus,14; Jamison Svehla, 14; Justin Haselhorst, 13; Carter Schnoor, 10. Creighton - John Mitchell, 19; Conner Hammer, 12; Clay Curtis, 8; Alex Homan, 8; Brennan Pint, 3; Braxton Brockhaus, 2.

REBOUNDS

Randolph - Keaton Backhaus, 7; Justin Haselhorst, 6; Jamison Svehla, 5; Carter Schnoor, 2; Sam Lemmons, 2.

ASSISTS

Randolph - Carter Schnoor, 7; Jamison Svehla, 3; Keaton Backhaus, 2; Justin Haselhorst, 1.

STEALS

Randolph - Justin Haselhorst, 3; Carter Schnoor, 2; Keaton Backhaus, 2.