Nicollet falls to Loyola

Crusaders dominate in second half to defeat the Raiders

BY JIM BASTIAN

Journal Sports Writer

ST. PETER -- When Nicollet's Tony Hulke hit a jump shot with 37 seconds left in the first half, it gave the Raiders a 26-25 lead at halftime over unbeaten Mankato Loyola.

It was the first time that the Crusaders, who entered the Section 2A Class A playoff game at 27-0, trailed at halftime in a game this season.

And the full-house crowd attending the contest at Lund Center at Gustavus Adolphus College wondered how the Crusaders would respond.

It didn't take them long to find out.

Held to only six points in the second quarter by the Raider defense, the Crusaders scored 26 points in the third quarter and topped that with a 30-point fourth quarter to top Nicollet 81-61 Monday night.

Bret Brielmaier and Tyler Westman each scored 23 points for the Crusaders with Truc Ho adding 21 and Adam Nelson 10.

Tony Hulke led Nicollet with 23 points with sophomore Jeff Zimmerman contributing 21.

"You have to give Loyola credit," said Raider coach Kory Kettner "They have been the better team all year and they were the better team tonight. They had the horses and we didn't."

What hurt the Raiders was not having a healthy Jamie Mettler, who was saddled with the flu. That allowed the Crusaders' inside tandem of 6-foot 6 Brett Brielmaier and 6-foot 3 Tyler Westman to score 34 of their total 46 points in the second half.

"He (Mettler) was sick all day -- tried to go -- but just couldn't do it," commented Kettner who sees his team end their season at 20-6.

Loyola took a fast 6-0 lead in the game before the Raiders came back and knotted the contest at 8-8 on a trey from Hulke and a Hulke jump shot with 3:46 left in the first quarter.

Adam Nelson's 3-ball sparked an 8-0 run that saw Loyola take a 19-12 lead after the first quarter and increase that to a 21-12 lead to open the second quarter on a Brielmaier bucket.

But the Raiders came back courtesy of a trey from Jeff Zimmerman -- one of six in the game by the sophomore -- to pull to within 25-17 at the four minute mark.

That was when Loyola went cold -- thanks to a tenacious Raider defense that contested every shot -- and Nicollet caught fire running off the last nine points of the quarter.

Brandon Rudenick and Mike Rosin's baskets in the paint preceded a 3-ball from Zimmerman and a Hulke basket to end the first half that gave the Raiders momentum going into the locker room.,

But then Loyola took control of the game in the third quarter. Truc Ho's trey and a Westman basket -- two of 13 third quarter points for the senior -- moved the Crusaders into a 30-26 lead less than a minute into the second half.

The Crusaders never looked back.

'We had some turnover trouble (eight) in that quarter," commented Kettner. "It was just not to be. They just had too many horses."

And the horses -- Westman and Brielmaier -- were two that the Crusaders saddled and rode the rest of the quarter, taking a 51-40 lead going into the final eight minutes.

The Raiders stayed close halfway through the third quarter as a Hulke free throw and a Rosin basket off a feed from Hulke saw they down 39-35.

But Brielmaier and Westman went to work as they increased that four point lead to a 49-35 lead with 1:40 left in the quarter.

Loyola then held a lead of 58-48 with two minutes gone in the final quarter but a 10-5 run lifted them to a 68-53 lead before the Crusaders went to the free throw line to score nine of their final 13 points of the game.

"Tony Hulke and Jeff Zimmerman are two great players for us," commented Kettner. "Jeff can flat out shoot the ball and Tony has been been one of the best leaders on the floor that you could ever ask for. We are going to miss him (Hulke) in a big, big way and I will miss all the seniors (four)."