Even though the Dakota Ridge Eagles have not done well against the Denver East Angels recently (they were 0-5 in their previous five matchups), they didn't let the past get in their way on Saturday. Dakota Ridge sure made it a nail-biter, but they managed to escape with a 74-72 victory over Denver East. Having run the score up that high, both teams might be doing some extra defensive drills very soon.
Dakota Ridge was led to victory by Andrew Schneider and Ethan Berninger. Schneider scored 19 points, while Berninger scored 25 points along with nine rebounds. The match was Berninger's tenth in a row with at least ten points. Nathan Esau was another key contributor, scoring 11 points along with seven assists.
Several Angels players turned in solid performances, despite ultimately coming up short. Perhaps the best among those players was Ehud Tesfoye, who scored 22 points along with six assists and four steals. Those 22 points set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of James Murray, who scored 19 points.
Dakota Ridge is on a roll lately: they've won five of their last six matches, which provided a nice bump to their 6-4 record this season. As for Denver East, they bumped their record down to 7-5 with that defeat, which was their third straight on the road.
Dakota Ridge will look to defend their home court on Wednesday against Golden at 7:30 p.m. Golden is coming into the match hot, having won their last three games. Denver East will be staying on the road on Saturday to face off against Douglas County at 1:00 p.m. on January 13th.
