Gallery: Last-second shot propels Alden-Conger past Glenville-Emmons

Published 10:13 pm Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Alden-Conger forward Matt Erickson inbounds the ball during Tuesday's game against Glenville-Emmons. — Drew Claussen/Albert Lea Tribune

Alden-Conger forward Matt Erickson inbounds the ball during Tuesday’s game against Glenville-Emmons. — Drew Claussen/Albert Lea Tribune

GLENVILLE — Two area boys’ basketball teams went down to the wire on Tuesday, and it was Alden-Conger’s strong play inside that lifted it over Glenville-Emmons.

The Knights came through in the clutch with a 47-45 win in Glenville.

Alden-Conger center Jacob Wallin drained the go-ahead bucket in the paint with 1.1 seconds left in the game.

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“We took advantage of when they got into foul trouble,” Alden-Conger head coach Bob Hansen said. “We worked it into our big guy, and he made the baskets when it counted.”

After a slow start that led to a a 17-14 deficit at the half, the Knights evened the score early in the second half.

“We talked about being patient at halftime,” Hansen said. “We wanted to work it into Wallin in the post, but we just said be patient and the outside will open up because they’re going to collapse on him.”

The two teams matched each other basket-for-basket through the last 8 minutes of regulation, with the Knights often taking a small lead and the Wolverines clawing their way back to a tie.

“It was great; It was exciting,” Hansen said. “I knew it was going to be close.”

The score was tied at 40 with 3:17 left, and after back-and-forth play with many steals, Alden-Conger led 44-43 with less than one minute left. Glenville-Emmons evened the score at 45 with 17.5 seconds left, which led to Wallin’s last-second, game-winning shot.

“Hats off to Alden. They really came out and played a tough, physical game,” said Glenville-Emmons head coach Jared Matson. “ I can’t fault our guys for their effort. Sometimes you just have to tip your hat and move forward.”

Wallin led the Knights with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Alden-Conger guard Eli Hallman added nine points and 11 rebounds.

“(Wallin) had a very good night tonight,” Hansen said. “He was making them off the backboard, and that’s good to see.”

Christian Voss led the Wolverines offense but was in foul trouble in most of the second half.

“That helped us tremendously,” Hansen said. “We knew that they were going to dribble-drive penetration on us. In the beginning of the game we weren’t moving our feet. We still weren’t doing very well in the second half, but we were better off than in the first half.”

Glenville-Emmons will be back in action at 7:15 p.m. Thursday at Grand Meadow. Alden-Conger will play at 7:30 p.m. Thursday at Lyle/Pacelli.