Cold shooting fells Kaneland against DeKalb

Kaneland brought the intensity it needed to Friday night's physical Northern Illinois Big 12 East boys basketball game at DeKalb, but the points didn't follow.

The Knights mustered just 11 first-half points and despite a couple of strong pushes in the second half, they ended up dropping a 41-32 decision.

Kaneland (6-5, 2-1) shot just 3-for-21 from 3-point range with senior Dylan Vaca making all three in a 12-point effort. Ethan Conroy added 9 points and 6 rebounds against his former team.

"We played really well on defense and held them to under 45 points which is always our team goal, but our shots weren't falling," Vaca said. "I thought our effort was better and we're all on the same page now."

"I'm enthused that our energy is back from where we were a week ago," said Kaneland coach Joe Conroy. "There was a lot of good hard-nosed basketball from both teams."

The Barbs (11-3, 5-0) scored the first 5 points of the second half to grab a 26-11 lead, but Kaneland cranked up the defensive pressure and forced 10 third quarter turnovers.

Ryan David made consecutive baskets and Conroy followed with two more to cap an 8-point Knights' run. Vaca connected on a 3-pointer to narrow the gap to 28-22, but Ethan Conroy's layup to end the quarter was waved off by an offensive charge call.

"That was tough, but we just live with it," Joe Conroy said. "We saw how they were calling charges all night-by that point you have to understand they're looking for that."

DeKalb sealed the win with an 8-1 spurt to open the fourth quarter. Michael Pollack led all scorers with 16 points while Cole Tucker added 10 points and Luke Davis grabbed 13 rebounds for the Barbs.

"I was very impressed with how DeKalb made big shots when they needed to make big shots," Joe Conroy said.

The Knights will try to snap a 4-game losing streak Saturday night in Rock Falls against Dunlap.