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SPENCER – The Spencer and Marshfield Columbus Catholic boys basketball teams were both in must-win situations Saturday if either was to stay in the Cloverbelt Conference East Division title chase.
Down by two points at halftime, Columbus Catholic ripped off 27 points in the third quarter and went on to a 68-53 win over the Rockets at Spencer High School.
Jared Fleischmann had 35 points and six assists to lead the charge for the Dons, who are now 13-4 overall and 11-3 in the Cloverbelt East. Columbus is 1½ games behind first-place Owen-Withee with four conference games remaining.
Spencer drops to 10-6 overall and 10-5 in the Cloverbelt East after losing its third-straight game.
Fleischmann made 12 of 22 shots from the field, including a pair of 3-pointers, and was 9 of 11 at the free throw line. Alex Baierl drilled four 3-pointers and finished with 12 points, and Jacob Puent added nine points and 13 rebounds for Columbus.
Overall, Columbus was 7 of 15 from 3-point range, while Spencer made just 2 of 12 from long-range.
Spencer led 28-26 at halftime before the Dons erupted in the third quarter, outscoring the Rockets 27-14.
Cody Esser had 10 points to lead a balanced scoring attack for Spencer. Bobby Pilz and Mitchell Susa both finished with nine.
Both teams return to action Monday. Spencer has a nonconference game at Rib Lake, while Columbus plays at Cloverbelt East game at Augusta.
Dons 68, Rockets 53
Columbus 10 16 27 15 – 68
Spencer 11 17 14 11 – 53
COLUMBUS (68): Jared Fleischmann 12-22 9-11 35, Alex Baierl 4-6 0-0 12, Jacob Puent 4-9 1-1 9, Bryce DeSmet 2-5 2-2 7, Derrick Green 1-7 3-4 5, Christian Payant 0-2 0-0 0, Evan Nikolai 0-0 0-0 0, Sam Studinger 0-0 0-0 0, Cole Mushel 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 23-51. FT: 15-18. 3-pointers: 7-15 (Baierl 4-6, Fleischmann 2-4, DeSmet 1-4, Payant 0-1). Rebounds: 23 (Puent 13). Assists: 11 (Fleischmann 6). Fouls: 16. Fouled out: none. Record: 13-4, 11-3 Cloverbelt East.
SPENCER (53): Cody Esser 3-6 4-4 10, Bobby Pilz 3-10 2-2 9, Mitchell Susa 2-8 4-6 9, Joe Meyers 4-9 0-0 8, Jeremiah Cattanach 3-6 0-0 6, Calvin Lenz 1-5 3-4 5, Ryan Busse 1-4 2-2 4, Brenton Engevold 1-1 0-0 2, Ben Greiser 0-0 0-0 0, Spencer Susa 0-0 0-0 0, Miles Weber 0-1 0-0 0, Nick Johnson 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 18-50. FT: 15-18. 3-pointers: 2-12 (Pilz 1-5, M. Susa 1-4, Meyers 0-2, Cattanach 0-1). Rebounds: 22 (Cattanach 6). Assists: 6 (Meyers 3). Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Pilz. Record: 10-6, 10-5 Cloverbelt East.