The Greene County boys basketball team fell to 4-4 in the Heart of Iowa Activities Conference and 4-6 overall in a lopsided 65-47 loss to the Prairie City-Monroe Mustangs in Jefferson Tuesday night.
The Rams were playing without four-year starter Landon Braun due to illness. Braun’s average of 10 points a game were missed. Sophomore Trey Tucker, whose average point total has slid from 27 to “only” 24.5 points a game scored 14 points for the game. He was scoreless until a minute into the second quarter. Sophomore Reid Lamoureux scored 14 points against Southeast Valley last Saturday and is averaging eight points per game. He scored no points before fouling out of the game.
The Ram offense struggled in the first quarter. The Mustangs scored eight points before senior Riah Nelsen finally scored after 3:25 of play. The only other score in the first quarter was a 3-pointer by Tyler Beger, as the Rams turned the ball over 10 times in the quarter. Score after eight minutes of play was 21-5.
The Rams outscored the Mustangs in the second quarter but only shortened PCM’s lead by two points. Score at the half was 19-33. The Rams also outscored the Mustangs in the third quarter, posting 12 points to the Mustangs’ 11. Score after three quarters was 44-31.
The Mustang offense chilled early in the fourth quarter and the Rams were able to get within five points, 44-39, their smallest deficit of the evening, with 4:53 left to play in the game. The Mustangs put on a wild horse sort of run, though, scoring 17 points in the next two minutes as the Rams scored only two. The run included three 3-point shots, although the Mustangs made only four 3-pointers for the entire game.
Unofficially, the Rams had 20 turnovers for the game while the Mustangs had 12. The Rams shot at 35 percent; the Mustangs shot at 45 percent.
Beger, Tucker and Mitchell Gorsuch made 3-point shots for the Rams. Beger scored 10 points, Riah Nelsen scored eight, Matthew Gordon and Anthony Cunningham scored four points each, and Max Neese and Jordan Hostetler scored two points each.
PCM is 7-1 and is tied for first place in the HOIAC.
