Other than 6’5” sophomore Kevin Kalis, the Panther production was shut down.
NRHEG hung around for most of the first half, trailing 24-18 at the intermission.
Despite the lack of offense, the Panthers were still down just six points, 34-28, with seven minutes remaining.
But, the Rebels pulled away with a 23-5 burst the rest of the way.
“Southland did a nice job frustrating us on offense,” said Churchill. “Goergen took over and hit shot after shot down the stretch.”
Michael Goergen paced Southland with 21 points, Sam Klaehn chipped in with 10 and Nick Schmitz and Decker Bendsten added nine points apiece.
Kalis was the lone Panther in double digits, flipping in 14 points. Nic Mangskau added seven points for NRHEG.
Kalis completed his double-double by yanking down 13 rebounds for the Panthers.
“I thought our kids gave everything they had tonight,” said Churchill.
NRHEG returns everyone except Mangskau and John White next season.
Southland 57, NRHEG 33
NRHEG 18 15 33
Southland 24 33 57
NRHEG (33): Kalis 14, Mangskau 7, Baker 4, Tracy 3, Schwierjohan 3, Tollefson 2.
Southland (57): Goergen 21, Klaehn 10, Schmitz 9, Bendsten 9, Wolff 4, Alex Ruechel 2, Schwartz 2.
