With International Falls on its heals and Tower-Soudan closing fast in the second half Tuesday, Nick Bujold’s controversial intentional foul proved to be the spark the Broncos needed in a 66-54 victory at the Falls High Gym.
With the Broncos clinging to a 53-47 lead with just over four minutes to play, Paxton Goodsky stole the ball from Bujold and had a clear path to the basket. Bujold caught the Golden Eagles senior from behind, however, and fouled him hard on the layup attempt.
Broncos head coach Derek Dowty argued against the intentional call, but to no avail.
Goodsky made 1 of 2 free throws to cut the lead to 53-48, but his 3-point attempt off the inbounds play missed and the Broncos turned around a lackluster second half.
Shawn Filipiak, who finished with a team-high 17 points, scored six of the next seven points for the Broncos to push the lead back to 60-50.
Tower-Soudan had whittled a 46-24 deficit from early in the second half down to six before Bujold’s hard foul.
“Their team was fired up and we had to match it,” Dowty said.
The Broncos matched the Golden Bears’ intensity over the final four minutes, and improve to 10-5. Tower-Soudan falls to 6-6.
Tim Myles added 12 points and grabbed six rebounds for the Broncos, while Ethan Johns had 11 points and five rebounds. Adam Potter scored nine points and dished out seven assists.
Chris Suihkonen led the charge in the second half for Tower-Soudan and finished with a game-high 24 points, including 13 in the second half. Goodsky had 11 points.
The Broncos’ next bit of action is Friday at home against Mesabi East.
