By Bill Kiser
sports@salisburypost.com
MOORESVILLE ó East Rowan had one of its best shooting games of the season Tuesday night against Lake Norman.
But a slew of mistakes and foul problems provided the difference during the Wildcats’ 83-61 win over the Mustangs.
Daniel Plummer scored 19 points and Phillip Ajay added 15 for East Rowan (7-12, 6-9), which has now lost two straight games and three of its last four.
Paul Larsen scored 15 points, Reggie Price hit three 3-pointers and had 13 points, and Matt Eller added 11 for Lake Norman (19-1, 14-1), which has now won four straight games since its embarassing 70-47 loss to West Rowan two weeks ago.
“They’ve got a good team,” East head coach Greg McKenzie said. “And we made a whole lot of mental mistakes. Like West Rowan, when you make one, they can make you pay.
“I’m not upset because we’re doing better and better as far as running our offense, but anytime we make a mental mistake against a team like (Lake Norman), they will make you pay for it.”
The Mustangs actually had the upper hand shooting the ball on Tuesday, hitting nearly 55 percent from the field (28 of 51) compared to just over 44 percent (26 of 59) by the Wildcats.
The difference came from the free throw line and 3-pointers.
Lake Norman hit nine 3s Tuesday, compared to just two (on five attempts) by East. The Mustangs didn’t hit their first 3-pointer until early in the fourth quarter after attempting only one over the first three periods.
The difference at the free throw line was even worse ó East was whistled for 20 fouls, sending the Wildcats to the line 33 times (making 22).
And the Mustangs? They made just nine trips to the free throw line, making only three ó and all of those were in the fourth quarter when the game was pretty much decided.
Still, East had its chances, particularly in the first half. After going down 29-20 at the end of the first quarter, layups by Plummer and Caleb Allen in the opening 30 seconds of the second quarter cut Lake Norman’s lead to 29-24.
But the Wildcats ó namely, their reserves ó responded, breaking loose on a 13-2 run over the next three minutes to go ahead 42-26.
The Mustangs would pull no closer than 11 the rest of the way. Lake Norman, which led 48-34 at the halftime break, took its biggest lead (24 points, 83-59) in the closing seconds of the fourth quarter.
east rowan (61) óPlummer 19, Ajayi 15, Allen 8, Weber 6, Moore 5, Honeycutt 2, Morton 2, McKenzie 2, Mancil 2, Slater, Torrence.
lake norman (83) ó Larsen 15, Price 13, Eller 11, Mercer 9, Deynes 9, Whalen 6, Kerr 5, Albritton 4, Smith 4, Weston 3, Moffitt 2, Timmons 2, Canevari, Graham , Saunders. E. Rowan 20 14 8 19 ó 61
L. Norman 29 19 12 21 ó 83