Free throws key Raiders' league victory

Every time Glenbard South faces Rochelle the Raiders know they are in for a wild boys basketball ride.

Thursday night proved to be no different as Glenbard South beat the Hubs 81-69, but not before things got interesting in the fourth quarter.

The Raiders (5-4, 2-3 Western Sun Conference) only trailed once all night, 1-0, when Jerry Moffitt split a pair of free throws in the opening minute for Rochelle. Other than that, Glenbard South was in control the entire way but allowed things to get dicey with about four minutes to play.

The Raiders led by 15 points going into the fourth quarter, and with just over four minutes to play Rochelle trailed by 10, but that lead was cut to 7 on a 3-pointer by Matt Nordman. Fortunately for Glenbard South, the Hubs were not able to get any closer thanks to some clutch free-throw shooting down the stretch by the Raiders.

"Anytime we play Rochelle we know some crazy things are going to happen," Glenbard South coach Wade Hardtke said. "Tonight was no different. We were lucky because we made some free throws when we needed to after not shooting so well from the line."

At times the contest seemed more like a free-throw shooting competition than a basketball game. The two teams combined to shoot 66 free throws. Glenbard South shot 28 of 43 and Rochelle was 12 of 23.

"It's always nice to shoot as many free throws as you can because those are supposed to be easy points," Glenbard South center Andy Manson said. "Shooting all those foul shots does take away a little flow from the game though."

One of the reasons Glenbard South was able to jump out to a 17-3 lead and a 42-31 halftime lead was because of Manson. The senior center scored 19 of his team-high 25 points in the first half. He also grabbed 10 rebounds in the contest.

Hardtke also has a nice problem on his team; it seems anyone he puts into the game can make a difference on the floor.

One of the key contributors off the bench for the Raiders Thursday night was senior guard Brian Smith. Smith scored 15 points and was a perfect 8 of 8 from the foul line.

"He has been struggling with his shot in the last few games," Hardtke said. "Tonight he knocked down a 3 and got to the foul line. When he gets to the line he really gets himself in a nice rhythm with his release and he showed that tonight. Right now we have a lot of people playing well and I just have to find which group is going to mesh together the best."

Rochelle (5-5, 3-3) had a nice 1-2 punch with Nordman and Moffitt, who combined to score 21 of the team's 24 points in the final quarter. For the game Nordman had 29 points and 10 rebounds, while Moffitt added 23 points.

"Our press didn't start to get to them until later in the game, and by that point it was already too late to make a comeback," Nordman said.