Barnum Boys Win Nail-bitter

Dwight Cadwell – NSO

Photos By: Dan Lingle

Entering Saturday afternoons match up with the Eagles of New Life Academy it would seem on paper that the Bombers would easily pick up their 19th win of the season and move on to their next opponent. The one thing was nobody told New Life that it was supposed to be a Bomber Blowout and a victory in hand.

New Life started strong Saturday afternoon as the Eagles used a physical style of basketball the Bombers had not seen too often this year. Conrad Engstrom was the offensive goto player for the Eagles as he scored 14 first half points as New Life would hold a 26-22 lead at the break.

In a physical half of play the Eagles shut down the Bombers inside game as the packed their defense in tight not allowing Barnum to work the ball inside to Hunter Fetters, Barnum had to rely on outside shooting which at times they struggled with in the first half. Mitchel Weller hit two three pointers, as did Brandon Newman, and the only two point field goal was a basket by Nate Jelinick, while the rest of the scoring was from the free throw line.

Following the break at half it was the Bombers who came out with pressure defense as the Bombers went on a 16-4 run and built up a 38-30 lead, then another small run would put the Bombers in front by as many as 14 late in the contest.

With the Bombers leading it was New Life that would foul on every possession sending the Bombers to the free throw line while on offense the hit some huge three pointers late to narrow the gap. Barnum made 25-40 free throws on the game and Brandon Newman who shot 29 free throws himself connected on 19.

Newman finished with a game high 38 points, including 3 three-pointers. Weller added 10 points, Chris Carlson ended with 8, Jelinick pitched in with 3 and Hunter Fetters and Andrew Naslund each scored 1 point for the Bombers.

Engstrom finished with 26 points for the Eagles and was the lone New Life Player in double figures. New Life hit eight three pointers including 5 in the last two minutes of play.

Barnum moves to 19-0 and they will play at Aitkin on Thursday night, New Life falls to 11-7 on the season.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com

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