Jacobs guard Nik Balkcom knew the key shooting and turnovers statistics Saturday that spelled the end for his team’s 26-game conference winning streak.
Balkcom tossed out one more number regarding senior teammate Cameron Krutwig.
“We just got frantic,” Balkcom said. “We made mistakes. We had a huge stretch where we didn’t get Cam the ball for 10 possessions.”
Krutwig was held to six of his game-high 19 points in the second half and the Golden Eagles lost for the first time this season, 50-41 in a Fox Valley home game.
“It comes down to 22 turnovers and 3-for-24 from threes,” Jacobs coach Jimmy Roberts said. “At the end of the day, that’s the issue.
“I thought our guys were a little frazzled. They were catching and they had time where they could get Cameron the ball. They were too worried about what was going on in their area.”
Prairie Ridge (12-4, 6-0) didn’t have to stop Jacobs (14-1, 5-1) and Krutwig in close because the ball was turned over already or fired errantly from the perimeter.
When Jacobs doesn’t get it in the hands of its 6-foot-9 Loyola recruit, not much good can happen. It meant a loss to the team Jacobs beat 2 1/2 weeks earlier in the Hinkle Holiday Classic finals.
“Going forward, it’s all going to depend on how we respond to this,” Balkcom said.
Prairie Ridge responded to its earlier loss to Jacobs with 18 points from Kyle Loeding, 17 points from Brian Dorn and a greater sense of urgency.
The Wolves showed up for the game wearing warmup T-shirts with the number 212 on back.
“Our coach gave us these 212 shirts and that kind of amped us up,” Loeding said. “Two-twelve is the boiling point of water, so we had to fire it up a little bit.
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“Our game plan was a lot more intense this time.”
When Jacobs players moved to the basket they were met with zone traps. The Golden Eagles committed 10 second-quarter turnovers and fell behind 26-25.
In the third quarter, Jacobs went 3-for-13 and was outscored 17-6. Krutwig missed only two shots all game, but was able to take only 11.
“We tried to get five guys on top of him,” Prairie Ridge coach Corky Card said. “And then the other three guys would try to pressure the ball.”
Reminded that was eight players was three more than regulation allows, Card said: “Yup. You’ve got to play like you’ve got eight out there.”
Down 43-31 starting the fourth quarter, Jacobs drew as close as 45-41 on Kameron Mack’s 3-pointer with 3:04 remaining. Jacobs then went scoreless, turning it over three times and missing four shots.
Krutwig finished with 16 rebounds and three blocks. Teammate Cooper Schwartz had nine points in Jacobs’ first Fox Valley loss since Feb. 21, 2014.
Roberts admitted the Golden Eagles hadn’t been closely challenged since a 54-51 win Dec. 7 over Crystal Lake Central.
“Other than that, we haven’t been in the fire at all,” Roberts said. “Today was good. We’ll be better for it.”
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