Head coach Kiel Duval credited his team's "limiting turnovers and (having) a couple guys stepping up and hitting big shots" as the key factors securing the W on Saturday, February 20. He add, "Ingram and (Andrew) Beyers gave us a huge lift with some big time shots."
A tough game the night before and a long bus ride less that 12 hours later for the Spartans did not lead to a very impressive start against the Maroons.
"I wasn't impressed in the first 3 minutes of the game with how we came out of the gates. We were not ready to play right away," Duval said. "(We) didn't lock into the scouting report or details that we talked about before the game."
After Robinson's Jeff Goble banked one in from inside the free throw lane to put the first digits on the scoreboard, Jackson Rydell found net for the first SJO bucket on a pass from Ingram to tie the score at 2-all in the first quarter.
The Spartans sloppy play contributed to a five point deficit, falling behind 10-5 at one point in the period. During a timeout Duval reminded each player of their role and strategy that was laid for the game. Their focus where it needed to be, the team got it into gear.
"We responded well after that," Duval said. "(They) got stops - made some big buckets when we needed them."
In the final 2 minutes and 14 seconds of the quarter SJO clawed their way back into the contest. Outscoring the Maroons 9-5 and still behind on the scoreboard, the Spartans trailed by one to start the next quarter, 15-14.
The second quarter looked much like first with Robinson pulling ahead by five again. And once again, St. Joseph-Ogden played catch-up basketball until the last 1:10 of the half when a Luke Hutcherson shot passed through the rim to give his team a 24-23 advantage.
The lead was short-lived. Fifty-some seconds later Goble, who finished the game with a team-high 12 points for the Maroons, hit a jumper from in front of the free throw line to give his team a 25-24 halftime lead. Gobel went on to lead his team's scoring effort with 12 points and secured nine of team's 25 total rebounds.
After the two teams returned to play the second half, St. Joseph-Ogden would go on to outscore the Robinson 29-18 to stretch their perfect record to 5-0.
Pence led all scorers with 16 points for the Spartans, eight of those from inside the free throw lane. The sophomore had 10 rebounds and was credited with one assist.
Ingram led the team in steals with two and qualified as the game's second leading scorer with 13 points. Beyer added another needed 12 points to the SJO cause.
Box Score
| Robinson | 15 | 10 | 5 | 13 | - 43 |
| St. Joseph-Ogden | 14 | 10 | 14 | 15 | - 53 |
Robinson
Gilmore 3 (0) 4-4 -- 10,
Goblee 6 (0) 0-0 -- 12,
Jackson 4 (0) 0-0 -- 8,
Johnson 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3,
King 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
N. Weber 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3,
Shindler 2 (0) 3-5 -- 7.
St. Joseph-Ogden
Brazelton 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
Costa 0 (1) 0-0 -- 3,
Hutcherson 2 (1) 0-2 -- 7,
Smith 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
Burch 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
Grindley 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
Wetzel 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
Rydell 1 (0) 0-0 -- 2,
Beyers 4 (0) 4-4 -- 12,
Atwood 0 (0) 0-0 -- 0,
Pence 4 (1) 5-7 -- 16,
Ingram 0 (4) 1-2 -- 13.
