Battle Lake hit some huge shots down the stretch and had some transition baskets where the Rockets struggled to stop the ball.  After a 3-pointer by Evan Lundgren put Underwood up 18 with five-and-a-half minutes left, Battle Lake made a big run to cut the lead to 6 with 1:30 to play.  A big 3 from freshman Daxton Risbrudt pushed the lead to 9.  After a couple of makes by Battle Lake, Drew Evavold hit 1-of-2 free throws to put the lead back to 6 with 46 seconds on the clock.  Battle Lake scored and immediately fouled Daxton Risbrudt with 30 seconds remaining.  Risbrudt hit two huge free throws to seal the win.

Evavold led the Rockets with 18 points and 9 rebounds.  Daxton Risbrudt and Hudson Risbrudt added 15 and 14 points, respectively, and Lundgren contributed 11.  Daxton Risbrudt also had 5 rebounds and 4 assists.  Noah Link chipped in with 9 points.  Lundgren and Kaleb Hammes dished out 4 assists each.

"We didn't have our best tonight,” said Battle Lake Head Coach Brady Cameron.  “Just like a few other games this year, we can't spot the other team 15-20 points by halftime.  Tonight at halftime we were down 19, gave up 7 offensive boards, had 11 turnovers, and gave up too many easy shots.  At halftime we talked over things, got everyone on the same page again and came out in the second half and battled until the end.  We had it to within 4 in the last couple minutes but couldn't complete the comeback.  Jack Mekalson did a great job of attacking the rim and finding his shot in the second half scoring 26 of his 39 points along with doing a better job of taking care of the ball for us.  One bright spot on the night was our 20 assists on our 25 made shots.  Aidan Heggem was out sick tonight and his presence on the glass was missed tonight as we were out rebounded 41-34 and we gave up 15 offensive rebounds and 18 points off those.  We are going to continue to work on our team rebounding and get ourselves ready to play a tough Border West team on Friday."

Mason Dalluge and Braxtyn Cameron each had 10 points, joining Jack Mekalson in double figures, and Maddox Mekalson finished with 9 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists.  Dalluge grabbed 8 rebounds, delivered 4 blocks, and dished out 5 assists and Cameron snared 6 boards, distributed 5 assists and recorded 3 blocked shots.

Underwood (11-9, 7-6 LEC) has a non-conference home game with Lake Park-Audubon on Thursday and will host Brandon-Evansville in a Little Eight Conference battle on Friday.

Battle Lake (8-11, 6-7 LEC) entertains Border West in a LEC contest on Friday night.