East Rocks Rockhurst

East fans greet players as they leave the court after beating Rockhurst Friday night

The basketball game of the year has come and gone. But for the first time in five years the Lancer Boys’ Basketball team came out on top over Rockhurst in a 62-50 win. The first basket of the game came off of an assist from senior Zach Schneider to senior guard Vance Wentz for a three-pointer, which ignited the Lancer crowd and set the stage for the rest of the game. With the fans loud and the players on fire, the Lancers jumped out to a 22-13 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Sophomore Lucas “Tuna” Jones has been a huge asset to the Lancers this year, and was the standout player last night with 16 points and 13 rebounds. While he didn’t dunk Friday night like many fans hoped he would, he still was a star on the court. The sophomore dominated under the basket with six shots from under five feet away.

The second quarter opened with a layup from Jones, answered by Rockhurst’s top performer Kyle Wolf who ended the game with 11 points and four rebounds. With 2:59 left in the half, the student sections all sat down to have a minute of silence in honor of late classmate senior Tyler Rathbun. The half ended with a missed three-point shot from Rockhurst’s Cartier Dean, and the Lancers went into halftime with a 37-23 lead.

After halftime the Lancers continued to dominate stretching their lead to 16 points. But Rockhurst started applying full-court pressure and double teaming the Lancer guards forcing turnovers. With a three point shot from Rockhurst’s Tom Keller to round out the third quarter, the Hawklets tightened the game to nine points. The score was 45-34 with the Lancers maintaining their lead going into the fourth quarter.

The final eight minutes of the game left the Lancers in control. East extended their lead to 20 points, which gave them the freedom to just enjoy the final moments of the game. For the 10 seniors on the team, it was certainly a game they would never forget. After singing the school song, the Lancer fans stormed the court to celebrate a 62-50 final score over their longtime rivals.