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NEILLSVILLE – The Spencer boys basketball team suffered its first loss in the Cloverbelt Conference East Division, falling 57-43 to Neillsville on Thursday night at Neillsville High School.
The Rockets trailed 39-36 after three quarters before Neillsville pulled away, outscoring Spencer 18-7 over the final eight minutes.
Spencer falls to 15-2 overall and 12-1 in the Cloverbelt East after having its 10-game winning streak snapped. The Rockets still sit in control of the conference standings with a two-game lead over Neillsville and Marshfield Columbus Catholic with three games remaining.
Spencer has a nonconference game at Athens on Monday and can clinch at least a share of the Cloverbelt East title with a win at Gilman on Tuesday. Spencer is searching for its first boys basketball conference title since 2007.
Bobby Pilz had 16 points and Nate Mercier added 11 points for Spencer before fouling out.
Michael Dux had 15 points for Neillsville.
Warriors 57, Rockets 43
Spencer 13 7 16 7 – 43
Neillsville 17 9 13 18 – 57
SPENCER (43): Bobby Pilz 7-15 1-1 16, Nate Mercier 4-14 0-0 11, Mitch Susa 1-6 2-4 5, Miles Weber 2-4 0-0 4, Calvin Lenz 1-3 1-4 3, Ryan Busse 1-2 0-0 2, Dakota Andreae 1-1 0-0 2. FG: 17-45. FT: 4-9. 3-pointers: 5-20 (Mercier 3-9, Susa 1-4, Pilz 1-6, Lenz 0-1). Rebounds: 28 (Weber 6). Turnovers: 11. Fouls: 17. Fouled out: Mercier. Record: 15-2, 12-1 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.
NEILLSVILLE (57): Michael Dux 6-15 0-2 15, Neal Matson 5-6 1-2 11, Jake Kunze 3-4 4-6 10, Sam Neville 3-9 2-2 10, Devin Opelt 2-5 0-0 4, Nolan Matson 0-2 3-5 3, Nathan Peterson 1-3 0-0 2, Jason Kurth 1-2 0-0 2, Derek Krejci 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 21-47. FT: 10-17. 3-pointers: 5-15 (Dux 3-6, Neville 2-5, D. Opelt 0-1, Kurth 0-1, Peterson 0-2). Rebounds: 31. Fouls: 14. Fouled out: none. Record: 11-6, 10-3 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.