Lancers rally to win opener Lancers rally to win opener (December 10, 2004)

St. Francis defense leads dominant fourth quarter

By Scott Campbell

A buzzer-beating shot at the end of the third quarter gave St. Francis all the momentum it needed to lock up a 64-57 win against Galena (Nevada) last Friday.

The Lancers were trailing 43-38 late in the third quarter when Richie Scudellari got the ball. With defenders surrounding him and his back to the basket, the junior swingman turned and released a three-point shot that fell through the net just before the buzzer sounded.

"It just happened to go in," said Scudellari. "The buzzer-beater got everybody excited, and the fans got into it a little bit."

Spurred by Scudellari's improbable shot, St. Francis went on a 9-0 run to begin the fourth quarter and ultimately defeated visiting Galena in this annual pre-season contest.

In a tight game marked by physical play and plenty of turnovers, the teams played to a 23-23 draw at the half.

Galena gained the upper hand early in the second half thanks to the outstanding shooting of guard Derek Lorenzen. Scoreless in the first half after picking up two quick fouls, Lorenzen seemed intent on making up for lost time.

The Grizzlies' star did just that, scoring all 20 of his team's third-quarter points, mixing three-pointers with drives to the basket.

"It was hard watching on the bench the whole first half so I had to come out and help produce for my team," said Lorenzen. "[The Lancers] started jamming me so I started going around them."

In stretching their lead to five points near the end of the quarter, the Grizzlies appeared poised to make their trek from Reno a success.

But after Scudellari's three-pointer pulled the Lancers to within two, St. Francis suddenly gained all the momentum.

The Lancers began the decisive fourth quarter by out-hustling the Grizzlies. St. Francis' defensive pressure proved too much for Galena as the Lancers forced turnovers on three of the Grizzlies' early possessions.

St. Francis was able to parlay those mistakes into a James Bisordi three-pointer, a Scudellari jump shot and layups by Brian Benedetti and Chris McDonald, as the Lancers raced to a 50-43 lead within just two minutes.

"We were trying to put more pressure on them in the backcourt," said St. Francis Coach Steve Filios. "We didn't watch the scoreboard; we just kept playing."

By the time freshman center Luke Babbitt, whose 10 first-half points had carried Galena's offense without Lorenzen, connected on a left hook, St. Francis had already seized control of the game.

"At the beginning of the fourth quarter, we put our heads down after [Bisordi] hit his first 'three,'" said Galena Coach Tom Maurer. "The endurance of St. Francis in the fourth quarter was outstanding compared to ours."

Led by Bisordi, who matched Lorenzen with 29 points and spearheaded the Lancers' defensive pressure, St. Francis never allowed the Grizzlies to mount another threat.

"Our defense is going to be our best offense this year," said Bisordi. "We're going to get a lot of points off turnovers."

In resuming this rivalry, St. Francis was happy to persevere against a tough Galena team.

"The best thing you can do in December is schedule [teams] that are going to be very competitive," said Filios. "It wasn't picture-perfect basketball, but everybody tried to uplift each other."

St. Francis will play in Dad's Tournament in Santa Cruz on Dec. 9-11 and will open West Catholic Athletic League competition Jan. 4 against Mitty.

E-mail Scott Campbell at sports@mv-voice.com

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