Boys Basketball: North rules the boards in win over Glenbard East

No matter how good a basketball team is, if you are outrebounded by nearly a three-to-one margin the chances of winning are pretty slim. Fueled by their 37-14 rebounding edge Naperville North came away with a big 70-63 DuPage Valley Conference road victory over Glenbard East Friday night.

Nine players scored in the game for the Huskies (9-4, 4-0 DVC), who also dominated from the free throw line going 28-for-41 from the charity stripe. The Huskies outscored the Rams 44-31 in the second half.

“Our kids were in some battles early in the season and you can see it pay off now as we play our conference games on the road. We did a great job of rebounding and really limited their chances,” Huskies coach Jeff Powers said. “We are an extremely good free throw shooting team and tonight we got a lot of chances.”

Early on the Rams (7-5, 2-2 DVC) shot the lights out as three different players connected from long distance, giving them an 11-4 advantage just three minutes into the game. However North switched to a zone defense and when the shots stopped falling, the Huskies were quick to box out and limit any second chance opportunities.

“Rebounding was really what it came down to tonight. We did well on the glass at times but it needed to be more consistent,” Rams coach Austin Nelson said. “We didn’t come out with the same energy in the second half as we did in the first half and when we had the chance to extend leads we were unable to do so.”

Glenbard East found their shooting touch early in the fourth quarter again and went on an 11-4 run to take a 53-51 lead with just under six minutes remaining. However, once again the Rams went cold at an inopportune time, allowing the Huskies to go on an 11-3 run. North never trailed the rest of the game.

North’s Mike Keane led all scorers with 22 points, going 11-for-14 from the free throw line. Keane was big especially down the stretch hitting 8-of-10 free throws in the fourth quarter.

Dante Bailey led the Rams with 18 points including four three-point field goals. Glenbard East had 20 field goals in the game and 10 of them came from beyond the arc.

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