Spartans lose second game of the season to 12-1 Hawkeyes

Senior Hawkeye Koleson Evans stole the show with 25 points en route to a 78-58 victory over the Exira-EHK Spartans Monday night.

“We just had to compete,” said Spartans Head Coach Doug Newton. “Try to match their intensity, do the job on defense and execute on offense. They were a little better at it than we were early.”

The Hawkeyes came right out of the gate opening the game with a 3-pointer from Senior Hawkeye Walker Rife. Senior Easton Nelson got the Spartans on the board with a quick 2-pointer soon after.

Junior Hawkeye Mason McIntosh was fouled shooting from 3-point range, sending him to the line, where he made 2 of 3 free throws, putting his team up by four points. With just under two minutes remaining in the quarter, Newton called a timeout with his team trailing by seven.

The Hawkeyes were in command leading 17-9 entering the second quarter. Junior Aiden Flathers opened up the quarter by scoring from 3-point territory, but that didn’t seem to affect the Hawkeyes allowing them to go up 29-14, forcing another timeout from Newton.

When play resumed, the Hawkeyes continued their dominance going on a 13-0 run before the Spartans finally made a shot. Another 5-0 Hawkeye run took place with the Hawkeyes leading in grand fashion heading into the locker room, 47-17.

“We’ve got to have a little pride,” Newton said. “We had to go out there and show them we weren’t going to quit, go out there and see what we could still get done and try to execute a little bit. You got to give them credit, they didn’t quit.”

Senior Trey Petersen opened the third quarter with a basket as the Spartans tried to claw their way back into the game. A few plays later, Senior Easton Nelson was fouled, putting him at the line where he made both free throws, cutting the Hawkeyes lead to 29.

On the next Spartans possession, Junior Cash Emgarten made an assist to Peterson who made a bucket chipping away at the Hawkeyes lead. Another assist took place soon after where Nelson went to Emgarten who made a bucket. The Spartans were trying to hang around trailing by 27 at the end of the third quarter.

The Spartans inched a little bit closer in the fourth quarter, but the Hawkeyes won the game by 20 points. With this loss, it ends the Spartans 4-game winning streak and hands them their second loss on the season.

They can’t rest for too long with the 6-7 Coon Rapids-Bayard Crusaders next on the road Tuesday night at 7:15 p.m. The Crusaders are led by Freshman Cal Heydon with 212 points and 35 assists and Senior Lance Clayburg with 103 rebounds.