Nikitas, Mazur, DePouw shoot Vikings past Carroll

APPLETON, Wis. — Jamie Nikitas and Tyler Mazur led four Lawrence University men’s basketball players in double figures as the Vikings downed Carroll University 76-67 in a Midwest Conference game Wednesday night at Alexander Gymnasium.

Nikitas scored a game-high 22 points and Mazur added 21 as Lawrence (2-2, 1-0 MWC) rallied past the Pioneers (3-2, 1-1) in the second half. Ryan DePouw added 18 points and Chris Siebert chipped in with 12 for Lawrence.

DePouw went 4-for-4 from 3-point range, and Mazur hit 4 of 9 from beyond the arc. Nikitas added six rebounds, five steals and four assists for the Vikings.

Bryan Nagy paced Carroll with 17 points and was one of four Pioneers in double figures.

Carroll led 33-28 at the half, but the Vikings pulled away midway through the second half. The score was tied at 41-41 when Lawrence went on a 9-0 run. Mazur scored five points in the run, including a 3-pointer to finish it, and Nikitas added four.

The Pioneers whittled the lead back down to 54-51 with 5:31 remaining, but DePouw buried a 3-pointer from the corner to answer for the Vikings. Lawrence still led by six at the 2:23 mark when Mazur converted a three-point play off a fastbreak to give the Vikings a 68-59 lead.

After a Carroll layup, Mazur buried another 3-pointer late in the shot clock to push Lawrence’s lead to 71-61 with 1:56 remaining. Carroll never got closer than nine points the rest of the way.

Lawrence, which improved to 7-0 in conference openers under head coach Joel DePagter, returns to action on Dec. 11 when it travels to Cornell College.

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