Premer Ties Career High as Panthers Take Down Demons
GREAT BEND, Kan. – Sophomore forward Ian Premer poured in 31 points while fellow underclassman Jacob Hall added 17 to help Great Bend power past Dodge City 72-59.
Dodge City (7-8, 2-2) came in their matchup with Great Bend battling consistently issues. The put together a terrific performance against Garden City the prior week but entered the game after a disappointing loss to Hays on Friday. Great Bend (11-5, 2-2) entered the night winners of three of their last four, with their most recent game being a win on the road in Liberal.
The positive momentum for Great Bend carried into the first quarter of their matchup with the Demons as Hall and Premer helped build a double digit lead for the Panthers, scoring 14 of 19 points in the quarter. Dodge was able to trim the deficit to eight by the end of the quarter, helped along by Jaiden Springer being fouled as he attempted a half-court shot as time expired.
Both offensives found their stride in the second quarter but Great Bend stayed ahead, outscoring Dodge 21-17. Ty Sheck led the Demons in scoring with seven points at halftime, while Tochi Okoro and Garden Gamblin each scored six. Premer continued to dominate for the Panthers as he reached 19 points by halftime.
The Demons continued to struggle to keep up with Great Bend’s scoring in the third quarter as the Panthers again eclipsed the 20-point mark in the frame. Premer added another nine points to move his total to 28 while the Panthers lead swelled up to 18 points entering the fourth quarter.
Dodge played their best quarter to end the ballgame, cutting the deficit down to 11 at one point but they couldn’t get it any further despite the best efforts of Okoro and Gamblin who finished the game with 18 and 14 points respectively.
The Demons were finally able to slow down Premer as he scored just three points in the quarter but Maddox Spray picked up the slack as he finished with 13 points, all of which came after halftime. The late push from Dodge made the final score look slightly better as they ended up falling 72-59.
Offensive rebounding was a major catalyst for the offensive explosion from Great Bend as they gobbled up 16 offensive boards and turned those into 19 second chance points. Turnovers also came back to haunt Dodge as their 15 giveaways were converted into 24 Panther points.
The 31-point outing for Premer tied a career high for the sophomore and helped get Great Bend back into the WAC conversation, moving them back to the .500 mark.
Okoro posted another double-double with 18 points and 10 rebounds, he was joined in double figures by Gamblin, Sheck and Jaiden Springer but the lack of defense, not offense was the determining factor for the Demons.
“I think just finding our rhythm and our sense of urgency early, a lot of times we’ve got to figure things out second quarter or third quarter, then we lose it again,” head coach Shane Traughber said postgame.
The Demons dip below the .500 mark with the loss, their next game will be their final non-conference game of the regular season as they take on Colby on the road on Friday. The game is scheduled to start at 7:30 and will be broadcast live on Z98 with pregame coverage beginning at 7:10.
Shane Traughber Postgame Interview
