Linn-Mar holds off late Xavier rally

CEDAR RAPIDS - This was just like their previous game, only in reverse.

Truth be told, the bottom line was the exact same for the Linn-Mar Lions, and that was a win. Rally, eschew the other team's rally, it doesn't matter.

It all works.

'We were hanging on there,” Coach Chris Robertson said, after his club beat Cedar Rapids Xavier, 66-57, Tuesday night at Ron Thillen Gymnasium.

The coach said he had to look at video to figure out how this one almost got away. The key word there being 'almost.”

Linn-Mar (11-3) was great, passing the ball sharply, making shots, playing defense and taking a 36-15 lead into the break. It was still a pretty comfortable margin of 12 going to the final quarter.

But Xavier put on a last-gasp press defense that rattled Linn-Mar, hard to figure since the Lions are so guard oriented. An Adam McDermott trey suddenly made it a 56-50 game with 1:21 left.

Deja vu in a way, if you consider Linn-Mar rallied from a 19-point deficit to knock off Dubuque Wahlert last Friday night.

'We sped up too fast there in the second half, especially in the fourth quarter there at the end against their press,” said Linn-Mar's Jordan Bohannon. 'But we kept our composure and hit some free throws.”

Xavier never got closer than six, with the Lions finishing the night a clutch 23 of 30 from the stripe.

'I think that happens sometimes late, in the second half,” Robertson said. 'You have a big lead, and they're going at you, going at you. They got us on our heels a little bit. Fortunately, we bounced back enough to get out of it.”

This was disappointing for a Xavier team that came in on a four-game win streak and appeared to be turning a corner. The Saints (8-6) shot just 29 percent in the first half.

Xavier Coach Ryan Luehrsmann thought his guys had a dear-in-the-headlights look early, with only Calvin Winker coming to play from the start. The forward had nine first-half points and finished with 14 and nine rebounds before fouling out.

North Dakota signee Adam McDermott also was crucial in Xavier's rally, making four second-half 3s. He had a game-high 23 points.

'The guys just kind of relaxed, picked up the level of effort and just fought,” Luehrsmann said. 'I think we showed some toughness there in the second half. Some grittiness, fighting tooth and nail to get back into it.”

'They had a lot of momentum on their side,” Bohannon said. 'They started hitting a lot of 3s, I think the crowd started helping them. They just hit some big shots.”

But not enough of them.

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AT C.R. XAVIER

LINN-MAR (66): Trevor Noble 4-6 0-1 8, Lane Halupnik 4-6 0-0 10, Ryan Schmidt 0-2 2-2 2, Nic Uhlir 3-9 11-13, Jordan Bohannon 6-12 4-4 20, Jordan Brandt 0-2 2-4 2, Beau Klostermann 0-1 0-0 0, Jason Tichy 0-0 0-0 0, Riley Murphy 1-2 4-6 7. Totals 18-40 23-30 66.

C.R. XAVIER (57): Calvin Winker 6-11 2-4 14, Ryan Stulken 0-1 0-0 0, Mitchell Burger 5-8 2-2 12, Adam McDermott 8-17 3-3 23, Michael Mims 0-5 2-2 2, Connor Ramlo 3-5 0-0 6, Joe Welch 0-1 0-0 0, Noah Clasen 0-0 0-0 0, Matt Downey 0-2 0-0 0. Totals 22-50 9-11 57.

Halftime - Linn-Mar 36, Xavier 15. 3-point goals - Linn-Mar 7-19 (Halupnik 2-4, Uhlir 0-5, Bohannon 4-7, Brandt 0-1, Murphy 1-2), Xavier 4-21 (Winker 0-3, Stulken 0-1, Burger 0-3, McDermott 4-9, Mims 0-2, Welch 0-1, Downey 0-2). Rebounds - Linn-Mar 25 (Noble 7), Xavier 27 (Winker 9). Total fouls - Linn-Mar 14, Xavier 24. Fouled out - Winker, Burger. Turnovers - Linn-Mar 10, Xavier 13.

l Comments: (319) 398-8259; jeff.johnson@thegazette.com