The Baltic Bulldog boys basketball team suffered their first loss of the season at the Entringer Classic in Brookings on Wednesday, December 31st. The Bulldogs faced the undefeated De Smet Bulldogs. De Smet pulled away in the fourth quarter for a 58-48 win to drop Baltic to 4-1 on the season.
The two teams battled closely through the first quarter. They were tied 7-7, but De Smet held an 11-9 lead with under a minute to play in the opening quarter. Dylan Runstad knocked down a three-point shot while being fouled. He would make the free-throw to give Baltic a 13-11 lead with :21 to go. Runstad would then hit a three-point shot at the buzzer, and Baltic led 16-11 after the first quarter.
Baltic continued to lead by five points, 18-13, over the first minute of the second quarter. De Smet would take a 20-18 lead, but Baltic tied the score 20-20 with about 5:30 left in the half. The offenses struggled a bit the rest of the half as each team only scored four more points each for a 24-24 halftime score.
Baltic went on a 9-3 run for a 33-27 lead with 5:30 left to play in the third quarter. De Smet responded with an 11-0 run to go in front 38-35. They would extend the lead to 40-35 with 1:15 to go. Baltic got within two points, 40-38, going into the fourth quarter. De Smet would built an eight point lead, 48-40, with 5:00 left in the game. That spurt to start the fourth quarter kept them in front the rest of the game. Baltic got as close as three points, 48-45, with 3:30 to play, but couldn’t get any closer.
Baltic shot 43% (18-42) overall in the game, 27% (3-11) from three-point area, and 64% (9-14) from the free-throw line. De Smet finished the game shooting 40% (21-53) overall, 35% (8-23) on three-point attempts, and 53% (8-15) from the free-throw line.
Runestand finished with 17 points in the game. Cooper Garry added 11 points. Ben Erickson had eight points, Kellen Artz added seven points, and Trevor Cuperus had five points. Grant Wilkinson of De Smet was named the game’s MVP with 26 points and 22 rebounds.
