Braden Gudahl gets around the St. Peter defender to score two of his 29 points in the Bucs’ 70-65 overtime win on Jan. 16.

The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers boys basketball team traveled to Truman on Monday, Jan. 18, to take on the Truman/Martin Luther/Granada-Huntley-East Chain Jaguars in a non-conference contest.

The Bucs took a 32-26 half time lead and then outscored the Jaguars 34-25 in the second half to pocket a 66-51 victory.

BEA shot 51 percent from the field. They made 18 of their shots from 2-point range and were eight of 18 from behind the arc.

Meanwhile, the Jags shot 40 percent from the field but converted only four of their 20 shots from 3-point range.

Neither team shot their free throws well. BEA made 6 of 15 from the foul line while T/ML/GHEC made only three of their 11 attempts from the charity stripe.

The rebounds were almost equal with the Bucs holding a 34-33 edge.

Three BEA players reached double figures in scoring. Cameron Anderson and Braden Gudahl each had 18 points while Sam Keister finished with 12.

Ashton Lloyd and Will Howard came off the bench to contribute seven and six points respectively. Austin Thielfoldt tallied five points.

Leading rebounder for the Maroon and Gold was Gavin Storbeck with eight. Gudahl had seven and Anderson finished with five.

BEA improves their record to 2-0. They were scheduled to travel to New Ulm on Jan. 22, to take on the Eagles. They return home on Monday, Jan. 25, to host the Jackson County Central Huskies.

The results of those games will be in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.

BEA 70, St. Peter 65 OT

Braden Gudahl scorched the nets for 29 points to lead the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers to a 70-65 overtime victory over the visiting St. Peter Saints in boys basketball on Saturday, Jan. 16.

It was the first game of the season for both teams who each had their original season-openers canceled because of a blizzard on Jan. 14.

The Bucs jumped out to a 12-0 lead on the strength of eight points from Gudahl who drained two shots from behind the arc and added two more points on a transition layup.

St. Peter did not get on the board until over three minutes into the game and slowly chipped away at the Bucs’ lead.

The Saints tied the game at 22-22 with three minutes left in the first half and opened up a three-point lead when their 6-foot-6 inch forward, Kelson Lund, made a 3-pointer.

Gudahl’s fourth 3-pointer of the first half knotted the score momentarily at 25-25, but St. Peter scored again to go up 27-25. BEA’s Ashton Lloyd hit a buzzer-beater from long range to send the Bucs into the locker room with a 28-27 lead at the intermission.

The second half began much like the beginning of the game. Gudahl sandwiched two driving layups around his fifth three-pointer of the night to score the first seven points of the second half and put BEA on top 35-27.

BEA’s Cameron Anderson, who went scoreless in the first half, swished the nets for three points and then slammed an offensive rebound through the nets to extend the Bucs’ lead to 40-27.

But, just like the first half, the Saints slowly fought their way back into the game until an 8-0 run gave them a 46-45 lead.

The Bucs managed to pull ahead 57-55 only to see the Saints score the final points of regulation with 1:53 left on the clock to tie the game at 57-57 and send the game into overtime.

A bucket by Sam Keister put the Bucs up by two but Bennet Olson, who finished the game with 17 points for the Saints, tied the score at 59-59.

Anderson then made his second 3-pointer of the night to put BEA on top for good at 62-59. The Maroon and Gold would finish the overtime period making all eight of their free-throw attempts to come away with the 70-65 triumph.

In addition to Gudahl’s 29 points, Anderson scored 14 while Sam Keister and Gavin Storbeck each tallied nine.

Keister led the team with 11 rebounds followed by Gudahl with eight and Anderson with six.

Austin Thielfoldt led the team with four assists.

St. Peter’s Ethan Grant led all scorers with 30 points.