After losing their previous two games during the past week, the Blue Earth Area Buccaneer boys basketball team was ready to cut loose, score some points and win a game.

They did just that last Tuesday night in St. James. The Bucs downed the Saints 81-72 in a South Central Conference battle.

The two teams were nearly mirror images of each other, as shown in the stats from the game.

The Bucs nailed 10 long-range three-pointers in the game; the Saints came in with nine of their own.

Both teams had four players in double figures for scoring. Both teams completed 13 free throw attempts. Both teams committed 18 fouls.

While the Bucs scored 43 points in the first half, the Saints returned with 42 in the second half.

BEA had a slight edge in rebounding, 28-26, over St. Peter.

But it was defensively that the Buccaneers took advantage. They had eight steals to the Saints’ four and only eight turnovers to their 12.

Despite the close stats, the Buccaneers held a 13-point lead at the half, 43-30. And they kept up the pace, scoring 38 in the second half.

Dallas Barslou was the top gun for the Buccaneers, with 25 points. He was 3 of 4 from two-point range, 4 of 8 from behind the arc and 7 of 12 from the charity stripe.

Barslou also had six assists and three steals.

Luke Monson added 19 points including 6 of 8 twos, 2 of 3 threes and 8 of 11 from the line. He also had nine rebounds to lead the team.

Brandyn Olsen contributed 16 points and eight assists. He was 6 of 14 from the field and 4 of 6 from the line.

Colin Squiers was the fourth Buc player to hit double digits, scoring 14, including hitting four of the six three-point shots he tried.

As a team the Buccaneers were 19 of 35 for two-point shots (54 percent), 10 of 18 from behind the three-point arc (56 percent) and 13 of 20 from the free-throw line (65 percent).

The Saints were led by Walker Froehling with 22 points, Zach Brandts with 16, Ryan Mensen with 15 and Sam Carlson with 11.

They were 25 of 59 from the floor and 13 of 19 from the line.

Next up for the Buccaneer boys this week is a game at Fairmont on Tuesday and one at Lake Crystal Wellcome Memorial on Friday.

St. Peter 64, BEA 61

It wasn’t supposed to be that close.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers were hosting the Class 2A, No. 6 state-ranked St. Peter Saints last Monday night.

Not many thought the Bucs could stay close to the high-flying Saints. But the Buccaneers proved the pundits wrong and nearly pulled off the big upset.

In the end, they came up just three points short, losing 64-61 to the highly touted Saints.

BEA played well both halves. They trailed St. Peter by just two points at the half time buzzer, 32-30. And, they were outscored in the second half by just one point, 32-31.

The Buccaneers could have used just one more three pointer in the game to tie it up.

As it was, they nailed six of the 15 attempts at the long-range bombs. Brandyn Olsen, Luke Monson and Colin Squiers each hit one.

Dallas Barslou nailed three of his nine tries from behind the arc. That accounted for his nine points in the game.

Overall the Bucs connected on 21 of 52 shots from the floor (40 percent) and 13 of 21 from the charity stripe (62 percent).

Olsen led the team in the scoring column with 16 points, closely followed by Isaac Darrington with 15 and Monson with 12.

Olson and Barslou each had five assists. Olsen added five rebounds and three assists in the game. Darrington led the team on the boards, grabbing eight rebounds.

The Saints were led by Peter Kruize who tallied 26 points in the game. Josh Peymann and Tom Steidler each had 12 points for St. Peter.

The loss dropped BEA’s record to 7-9, 2-5 in the South Central Conference. St. Peter upped their record to 17-2, 6-1 in the SCC, with the narrow victory.

Cannon Falls 75, BEA 53

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers had trouble overcoming the fire power of the Cannon Falls Bombers on Saturday, Feb. 9.

The Bombers blasted the Bucs 75-53.

Cannon Falls made 31 of their 48 shots from the floor (65 percent), including nailing 7 of 15 (47 percent) of their three-point attempts.

BEA, meanwhile, was just 19 of 37 from the floor (51 percent) and made 5 of 12 long range baskets.

The Bucs did outshine the Bombers at the free-throw line, hitting 10 of 12 for an 83 percent success rate. Cannon Falls made 6 of 9 for 67 percent.

The Buccaneers had a decent 35 point score at the half, but the Bombers had 10 more than that, 45, when the buzzer sounded.

BEA mustered just 18 points in the second half, while Cannon Falls came through with 30 in the second stanza.

Dallas Barslou led the Bucs with 17 points. Both Brandyn Olsen and Colin Squiers came in with 10 each.

Barslou hit two threes for BEA, while Squiers nailed the other three. Barslou also was a perfect 7 of 7 from the free-throw line. Olsen had five assists and four rebounds.

Luke Monson and Steven Plocker each had five rebounds in the game.

The Bombers had four players in double figures, who scored 20, 18, 15 and 10 points.

The loss dropped the Buccaneers record to 7-8 on the season.

The week the Bucs play in a boys/girls doubleheader at Fairmont on Tuesday, then travel to LCWM on Friday.