The Sevastopol Pioneers returned to Institute Thursday night with a 59-53 win over their rivals Gibraltar for their fifth victory of the season.

 

Damien Lardinois put the Pioneers on his back during the first-half, scoring 16 of his game-high 21 points in the opening frame, which included a pair of three-pointers. His efforts helped the Pioneers enter the locker room with a 31-18 lead at the break.

 

The Vikings made a game of it in the second half, outscoring their guests 38-28 thanks to Marco Jauregui's nine points and Wyatt Bultman's eight points that came after the break. Lardinois hit a big three and Zaul Valdivia and Bo Tanck made key free throws down the stretch to help the Pioneers avert the upset.

 

In addition to Lardinois' 21 points, Valdivia scored 15 points and Tanck added 10 points for the Pioneers. Jauregui led the way for the Vikings with 15 points while Bultman chipped in 11 points, and Finn Bremer added seven points. 

 

Vikings head coach Travis Ward credited the Pioneers with securing some key rebounds down the stretch and believes his team enters the break a lot better than what their record indicates. Their next game is on January 6th when they play Southern Door on 105.1 The GOAT. The Pioneers will have a morning date with the Lena Wildcats on December 30th when the two teams play at the Sun Drop Shootout on the campus of UW-Green Bay at 10:30 a.m.