2017 Christmas Lights Tour

Prologue
Anytime you get a chance to do a Minneapolis Southwest game in mid-December its always a treat.  That's because of the numerous Christmas lights displays in the area.  Tonight the Lakers host Minneapolis Henry in an early Minneapolis City conference opener.  A very good walking taco on the menu, good kick.  Sprite is a favorite beverage this season so we stick with that.  Lake Region making the long trek in to watch along with St. Olaf and St. Thomas amongst others.  Since Christmas is the theme, we'll go traditional for today's tune.

Song of the Day: Jingle Bells
Number of Teams I've Seen: 71 (45 games, 19 days, 15 buildings, 10 online)

Beverage Ticker: 292.9 ounces (3200 Calories)

• 7 Up: 12 ounces (140 calories)
• Coke: 52 ounces (620 calories) 
• Pepsi: 84 ounces (1050 calories)
• Sprite Zero: 20 ounces (0 calories) 
• Sprite: 80.9 ounces (960 calories)
• Red Powerade: 20 ounces (130 calories)

Food Ticker:

• Hot Dogs: 7
• Walking Tacos:3
• Pizza: 5

Game Time:
Henry going without much of their main lineup for the entire first half.  Will Laabs, Anton Barr and Rashaud Rollins all get the 1st half DNP-CD.  Southwest takes advantage right away.  Treavon Nystrom 2 hoops, Ari Bogen-Grose with a stick back and a triple.  Niko Polydorou 2 assists before sitting with 2 fouls.  Southwest jumps out to a 16-5 lead less than 6 minutes in.  Mark Cambell and Marshun Downey bring the Patriots back.  Downey 2 hoops, Cambell with a reverse layup and a triple in the 3 minute Henry 14-2 run.  19-18 Patriots at the midpoint of the half.  The rest of the 1st half is back and forth. Nystrom 3 more hoops and a triple.  Downey with a steal for a 3 point play.  Cambell with 1 triple and then beats the halftime buzzer with another bomb.  Henry 39-37 at the break. 

Henry gets their guys back about 4 minutes into the 2nd half.  Glentrell Carter 3 hoops and Cambell with a bomb and a bucket.  52-43 Henry just over 5 minutes into the half after a 9-0 run.  Southwest cuts into the lead with a Polydorou triple, Alex Fischer with a hoop and harm with Nystrom putting back the missed free throw.  Polydorou adds another hoop and the lead is down to 5 inside 7 minutes left.

Bogen-Grose with a triple and Nystrom is fouled during the shot.  He makes 1 of the 2 bonus free throws on the rare chance for the 5 point possession.  Southwest within 4 but Caldwell and Rollins counter with buckets.  Southwest with a couple of late costly turnovers but they get a last chance.  Fischer puts back a miss and Henry misses a front end with 5.2 left.  Southwest out of timeouts and their desperation heave is no good.  Henry hangs on to win 81-78.

Post Game
Southwest falls to 2-4 overall, 0-1 in the Minneapolis City.  Ari Bogen-Grose with 4 triples and 24 points to lead all scorers.  Traevon Nystrom who had fallen off the map and has reappeared at Southwest (was at FAIR once upon a time) with a very nice outing of 22 points and 15 boards from his forward spot.  Niko Polydorou with 13 of his 15 in the 2nd half.  No points from the bench despite 7 bench guys seeing minutes.  The Lakers open play in the Augsburg tournament on Thursday against Eastview.

Henry breaks a 2 game losing streak with the win.  They improve to 3-2 on the season, 1-0 in the Minneapolis City.  They play next in the Hibbing holiday tournament.  Mark Campbell (bad spelling in the program so I'll correct it here) leads the Patriots with 19 points. Marshun Downey all 12 of his points in the 1st half..  Will Laabs with 10 inside all in the 2nd half.   10 different Patriots end up scoring.  The Patriots did just enough against the 2-3 zone with 7 3s and penetrating the open middle.