LEXINGTON — Mansfield Christian controlled Lucas for three quarters on Friday night, but the Cubs got completely out of control in the last eight minutes to pull out a stunning, 76-68 sectional championship victory.
Sophomore Logan Niswander erupted for 21 of his game-high 26 points in the final quarter, while senior Brian Sauder added 12 of his 20 points as the duo accounted for all 33 Lucas points in the period.
“We did?” Sauder said. “Wow. I didn’t know that.”
Wow indeed. The third-seeded Cubs looked dead in the water through the first three quarters. Mansfield Christian led 20-13 after the opening eight minutes and owned a 41-29 halftime bulge. It was 52-43 after the third period and the fifth-seeded Flames seemed on the verge of avenging two regular-season losses to Lucas.
But that healthy working margin that was built steadily through three quarters vanished quickly when the fourth began. The Cubs scored on eight of their first nine possessions in four minutes, part of a 17-2 blitz that gave Lucas a 60-54 advantage. Niswander had 11 of those points, while Sauder added the other six.
“My teammates looked for me,” Niswander said. “We had a hard time stopping them early but when we slowed them down we were able to speed up our offense.”
Lucas attempted 17 treys in the first three quarters, but just one in the fourth, and naturally Niswander made that one, too.
“Logan is a very gifted player,” Lucas coach Taylor Iceman said. “He’s a tough guard because he can shoot it from the outside, he makes his free throws, and he’s patient inside.
“He’s figuring it out.”
The outburst was just two off the 6-foot-1 sophomore’s career high of 28 points racked up against Loudonville. Niswander and Sauder never let the lead get away either, marching to the free throw line and drilling 14 of 15 free throws between them in the period. In total, Lucas scored on 16 of 20 fourth-quarter possessions, and made 9 of 11 field goals.
It was machine-like.
“I told the kids at halftime (the Flames) want it more than you do,” Iceman said. “I was a little worried about that, they played a game (earlier in the week) and this was the first tournament game for some of our kids.
“(Mansfield Christian) really came out ready to play and took it to us.”
By the end the Flames were burning embers, making just 1 of 7 treys in the fourth quarter and only 3 of 7 free throws.
Senior Jared McPeek had 22 points for the Mansfield Christian, while classmate Kyle Kurtz added 15 and sophomore Gavin Kiliany posted 13 points. For the game, the Flames made a whopping 28 of 50 field goals (56 percent), but they simply could not get stops in the fourth quarter.
“We found the matchups,” Iceman said. “They had a smaller guy on Logan, when they switched that up we spread the floor.
“We played them twice this year and all summer long. We know each other pretty well.”
Lucas got 12 points from Ethan Sauder and forced 13 turnovers, while committing just eight in a fast-paced game.
The Cubs next head into Tuesday’s district semifinal at Willard for an 8 p.m. matchup with No. 1-ranked Mansfield St. Peter’s.
