Strong Finish Helps Eskomos to a 62-52 Win Over Barnum

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Jan 29

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

BARNUM- With a little over three minutes remaining in the boys basketball match-up Friday night between Esko and the Barnum Bombers, it looked like the Bombers controlled their own destiny as they held a five point 50-45 lead. The Eskomos however took control of their own destiny and won the game from the free throw line as they nailed ten free throws in a 17-2 run that closed out the Bombers and gave the Eskomos the 62-52 Polar League victory.

In a contest which saw both teams battle back and forth while building small leads, only to see the other team fight back, it was a true Polar League battle until the end. “We had our chances to close them out” Head coach Richard Newman told Northland Sports Online. “We had a few miscues and they didn’t miss any free throws down the stretch.” Newman added, “I think we played pretty well, we really wanted the win here at home.”

The Eskomos built up a three-point half time lead of 31-28. The Bombers however came out firing in the second half as they quickly took the lead and the momentum in the game. Some hot outside shooting and good defense gave the Bombers a five-point lead. The lead dwindled quickly over the last few minutes as Esko went 10-12 from the free throw line to ensure victory.

The Eskomos were led in scoring by Jackson Lindquist, who led the Eskomos with 19 points, including two three-pointers, Adam Eskuri, Andrew Wendland, and Jake Stainbrook all added 14 points in the win, and rounding out the scoring with 2 points was Bobby Wright.

Barnum was led in scoring by Josh Hogan who finished with 17. Jake Naslund added 15, Justin Newman poured in 15 also, Danny Warpula added 5, and Andrew Youngren finished with 2 points on the night. The Bombers did hit six times from beyond the three-point line in the loss.

Esko improves to 14-1 on the season and moves to 6-1 in the conference standings. The Eskomos will be in action again on Tuesday night when they host the Duluth Central Trojans. Barnum falls to 13-4 overall on the season and 6-4 in the conference. The Bombers will play at Floodwood on Tuesday night.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at Dwight@northlandsportsonline.com