By GREG MENGELT

Miami (7-7, 1-2 MAC) pulled within 71-69 with 2:04 remaining, but Toledo junior guard RayJ Dennis knocked down four keep free throws down the stretch help the Rockets improve to 12-4 overall and 4-1 in conference play.

Kooper Jacobi, a freshman who helped lead Silver Creek to two Class 3A state championships, was scoreless in 8 minutes. He was 0 for 1 from the field and had a rebound and a blocked shot in the victory.

Rockets sophomore guard Ryan Rollins led all scorers with 22 points, while junior forward JT Shumate and junior forward Setric Milliner Jr. finished with 17 points apiece.

Former Evansville Bosse star Mekhi Lairy led Miami with 17 points. The RedHawks have lost two in a row and five of their last seven.

Toledo, which is a half-game behind Ohio atop the MAC standings, goes to Bowling Green (8-7, 1-3) on Saturday. Tipoff is schedule for 5 p.m. The game can been seen on ESPN3.

By GREG MENGELT

The Knights are now 8-8 overall, and more importantly, 2-0 in Atlantic Sun play. Penn (Evansville/Memorial) went 18 for 22 from the field in the victory. He also had three reebounds, two assists and two steals for the Knights, who shot 63.2 percent as a team (36 of 57) and made 8 of their 19 3-point attempts (42.1 percent) in their second straight win.

Penn was the only Knight to score in double-figures, but freshman forward Curt Hopf (Montgomery/Barr-Reeve) and senior forward Ethan Claycomb (Vincennes) finished with nine points a piece.

Juston Betz, a senior and former Providence Pioneer, contributed eight points, five rebounds, five assists and a steal to the victory.

Central Arkansas, which is now 5-11 after suffered its first A-Sun loss, got 15 points from sophomore guard Collin Cooper and 13 from freshman guard Ibbe Klintman.

Bellarmine has a big A-Sun test Saturday when it visits Lipscomb (8-10, 1-2), which was one of the conference favorites heading into the season. That game tips at 5 p.m. and can be seen on ESPN Plus.

By GREG MENGELT

The Lions, who had lost four straight against four larger-class schools, are now 3-0 against Class A competition.

“It’s always an exciting place to play and it’s been a good rivalry over the years,” said Rock Creek coach Chris Brown, who earned his 353rd career coaching victory with the Hoosier Hills Hoops Win of the Week. “Saturday was no different. Definitely a great win.”

Junior Jaleb Treat led the Lions with 14 points and nine rebounds and junior Marial Diper had a double-double of 12 points and 11 rebounds to go along with four blocked shots. The Lions’ big men combined to go 13 of 18 from the floor.

Junior Ladarius Wallace finished with nine points and three assists and was 4 for 4 at the line in the fourth quarter, junior Keajuan Beco had nine points off the bench and senior Gavin Gullion contributed six points, five assists and five boards to the victory.

“We came in prepared and the guys were locked in,” Brown said. “That’s the closest we’ve come to playing 32 minutes of basketball this season. Great effort and focus by our guys. I thought we were solid defensively and we crashed the offensive glass very well. Those were difference makers in my mind. Total team effort tonight.

Rock Creek (5-5) hosts Portland Christian (Ky.) (5-5) on Friday and go to New Washington (2-10) to face another potential sectional contender on Saturday.

By GREG MENGELT

Silver Creek has handled all Mid-Southern Conference comers, including 41-31 win over Salem on Saturday in the Hoosier Hills Hoops Win of the Week.

The victory makes the 17-1 Dragons 6-0 in MSC play, a half-game ahead of Corydon Central with a victory in hand over the Panthers.

The win was the third straight over a Salem team that had tormented the Dragons for years.

“This was a good win for our team,” Silver Creek coach Scott Schoen said. “It has become such a great rivalry game, arguably the best rivalry in Southern Indiana. We have had five of our games in past 10 years come down to one possession.”

The Dragons held Salem to 25 percent (10 of 40) shooting and 13 percent (2 of 15) from behind the 3-point line. They also forced 18 turnovers and out-rebounded Salem (8-6) by a 29-23 margin in the win.

Kynidi Mason-Striverson finished with 16 points and 14 rebounds for Silver Creek, which has won four straight and hosts Madison (10-6) on Tuesday night.

“The game was two good teams who know each other extremely well competing,” Schoen said. “It had a sectional feel to it. We were able to get out of the gates, expended a ton of energy and then it became a knock-out, drag-‘em-out game. Points were difficult to come by.”

By GREG MENGELT

Through nine games, it didn’t look like the Rebels’ expectations were going to come to fruition. But last week, South Central showed why it had those expectations with wins over rival Lanesville and Mitchell.

“We’re young, no seniors, and lack a bunch of experience, so it was good to get two wins the way we did this weekend,” South Central veteran head coach Greg Robinson said. “We were able to step up the defense at the end of each game. We held both teams scoreless in the last four minutes of each game, so we’re learning how to finish off good efforts.”

The Rebels shot 50 percent from the field and the 3-point line in Friday’s 57-50 win over the Eagles. Ty Jones led the balanced South Central attack with 14 points. Cole Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds, Christian Kiper had 10 points and five rebounds, Kole Stewart contributed nine points and five boards and Ethan Hedden finished with seven points and seven boards in the county rivalry game.

On Saturday, the 4-7 Rebels went 20 for 36 from the floor and 8 for 13 from deep. Kiper and Thomas finished with 18 points apiece in the win.

“We shot 53 percent from the field for the weekend and I believe it was due to our shot selection,” Robinson said. “We did a really good job of passing and of moving ourselves into positions that allowed us to be successful.”

By GREG MENGELT

First, Montgomery scored 39 points, grabbed eight rebounds, had three steals, six deflections and an assist in the Eagles’ 82-62 loss to Performer of the Week Logan McIntire and Class 3A No. 13 North Harrison (7-2) on Friday.

The following night, Montgomery went for 37 points, seven rebounds, two assists, two deflection and a steal as Austin fell 78-61 to Class 2A No. 16 Eastern, which has won nine games in a row.

Montgomery and the Eagles go to Borden (8-4) on Friday and Clarksville (4-6) on Saturday to try to improve on their 2-7 record.

WEEK’S TOP PERFORMERS
• Matthew Arthur, New Washington: The New Washington junior averaged 25 points per game as the Mustangs went 0-3 last week. Arthur went over 1,000 points in his 33-point outing in Saturday’s 62-60 loss at Clarksville. “Matthew has started to really grow into the leadership role that we are asking him to fill,” second-year New Wash head coach Kyle Brown said. “His scoring has never been a question, but it is the other areas where we have asked him to improve. He has taken our challenge and has stepped his defense and decision-making up to a higher level. We, as a team, are in a bit of a slump at the moment, but we feel like we have turned a corner and are trending in the right direction. Matthew is a catalyst for that trend.”
• Jacob Cherry, Eastern: The 6-foot-10 junior had 21 points, seven rebounds and three assists as the Musketeers defeated defending Class 3A state champion Silver Creek on Friday. He went 8 for 11 from the field and 5 for 6 at the line in the victory. Last week’s Hoosier Hills Hoops Player of the Week followed that with 26 points and eight boards in Saturday’s victory over Austin. He was 8 for 10 from the field and 10 for 12 from the line in Saturday’s win.
• Hayden Cutter, Scottsburg: Cutter finished with 37 points and 12 rebounds as the Warriors went 1-1 last week. Cutter first had 21 points and six boards as Scottsburg defeated Madison 58-54 on Friday. On Saturday, Cutter had 16 points and six boards in a 57-53 overtime loss to North Harrison.
• Kasym Nash, Borden: Nash scored 45 points as Borden went 2-1 in last week. Nash had nine points and three assists in Tuesday’s 58-26 win over Shawe. On Friday, he contributed 18 points and three assists to the Braves’ 52-47 triumph over New Washington. He finished the week with an 18-point, 5-rebound outing in a 57-42 loss to Rock Creek on Saturday.