Batavia's comeback comes up short against DeKalb
Chasing DeKalb nearly the entire night, Batavia just about caught the Barbs Tuesday in a tight Western Sun Conference battle in Batavia.
DeKalb, though, did just enough to get away, leaving Batavia with a win for the first time in the four years of WSC play.
Twice Batavia closed DeKalb's once double-figure lead to 1 point in the fourth quarter, and twice the Barbs were able to stretch it back out, eventually winning 59-51 for an impressive 2-0 start in conference play.
DeKalb (4-2, 2-0) owns road wins at Kaneland and Batavia heading into a third straight toughie Friday at Geneva. Batavia (4-2, 1-1) lost its second straight after a 4-0 start.
"Our kids kept hanging in there, hanging in there and we just couldn't get over the hump," Batavia coach Jim Roberts said.
Elliott Vaughn took a feed from Ricky Clopton and swished a short jumper, putting Batavia ahead 4-3 midway through the first quarter. As it turned out it was Batavia's only lead of the night.
The Bulldogs' ice-cold shooting in the first half allowed DeKalb to open leads of 11-9 after one quarter and 28-18 at halftime. Batavia hit just 4 of 15 shots in the first quarter and 3 of 18 in the second on its way to 29.4 percent shooting for the game.
"We had some good looks that didn't drop but at the same time there's a fine line. When we became stagnant that didn't help our shooting," Roberts said.
Sizzling shooting by Adam LeTourneau keyed Batavia's second-half comeback. The senior drained three 3-pointers in the third quarter, including one in the closing seconds to make it 39-33 heading to the fourth.
Batavia scored the first five points of the fourth to draw within 39-38 only to see DeKalb answer with Jordan Threloff's putback basket and a 3-pointer from sophomore Brian Sisler.
Batavia made another charge, this time on a pair of baskets from Ricky Clopton and another LeTourneau 3-pointer, trimming DeKalb's lead to 46-45 with 4:06 left.
Jake Jouis' jumper settled the Barbs down, then Threloff came up with a key tip-in on a missed DeKalb free throw. Batavia never had the ball with a chance to tie from there.
"We played together real well, we dictated the tempo of the game," Threloff said.
The Illinois State recruit led DeKalb with 16 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocked shots despite a spirited effort from Batavia's front line, led by Elliot Vaughn's 11 rebounds.
"A kid like Threloff, I was pretty proud of our post play," Roberts said. "I thought Levi (Maxey), Elliott, Cole (Gardner), I thought those guys battled him tooth and nail. If there's any letup a player of that caliber will make you pay for it and he did a couple times."
Threloff's supporting cast complimented him well, with the other four starters contributing 12, 10, 10 and 9 points.
"I'm very pleased with the way our other guys stepped up and scored," DeKalb coach Dave Rohlman said. "A lot of that has to do with the way Jordan distributed the ball in the first half."
Rohlman, whose team won't have their first home game until Dec. 18, said they are calling the start to their season their "circus trip." It certainly has been more fun after opening with losses to Naperville North and at the buzzer to Marmion at Oswego's Hoops for Healing tournament.
"We've gotten blown out several times (at Batavia), I think this is a very big win," Rohlman said. "What I'm impressed most is our kids are pretty mellow right now. They are taking it in stride and already thinking about Friday."
LeTourneau led Batavia with 21 points, draining 6 of 10 3-pointers. Clopton added 17 but nobody else had more than 6.
"Adam stepped into the gaps and shot with great confidence," Roberts said.