By Joel Herrig
Murray County News Sports
The MCC Rebels were at home Thursday night for the first time this season. The Rebel boys are off to a great start this year with three wins against no losses. Thursday they played host to the Fulda Raiders in the first matchup between the two teams this season and the Rebels first conference game of the year.
The Fulda Raiders came into the game 2-0 this year with a high powered offense through their first two games. The Raiders found scoring a little more difficult against the Rebel defense compared to Heron Lake Okabena and Ellsworth. The Raiders did beat the Rebels twice last season, once in overtime and another by 12. Extra time wasn’t needed Thursday night and the Raiders win streak over the Rebels ended at two games.
The Raiders would get off to a nice start against the Rebels as MCC struggled with some early turnovers and some fouls that allowed the Raiders to get to the free throw line. Fulda is a tough matchup because they do not play a true post player. The Raiders biggest players have no problem playing away from the basket and that caused MCC some issues on defense. They used that to their advantage as they led early in the game by as much as five points. Matthias Kunerth scored 11 points in the first half as Fulda led 23-22.
That is when the Rebels would get going scoring 12 straight points building an 11 points lead. What was a shot in the arm for the Rebels was the play off their bench. Noah Boerboom and Jack Pierson played well in the first half as the duo combined for nine points. Justin Benda scored a season high seven points in the first half while playing some tough defense on Dalton Slinger who only managed to score five points. The half ended with back to back three point shots. The first by the Rebels with nine seconds left and the next by Kunerth at the buzzer. The Rebels led 36 to 27 at the break.
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