The Golden Eagles defeated Lorain County 61-54 to win the Great Lakes District Championship on Saturday. Rock Valley found themselves in a battle Saturday afternoon. A back and forth first half finished with the Golden Eagles up 29-27 at the break. In the second half the Golden Eagles would stretch their lead to as many as nine points but the Commodores would not go away. Lorain would go on a 13-2 run to take a two point lead. However in the final five minutes of the game the Golden Eagles would lock in defensively and finish off the Commodores. 

Nick Pierson would lead the way for the Golden Eagles with 23pts and 10rebs. "Nick stepped up big for us today! He had the hot hand and we tried to keep going to him in the second half as much as we could." said head coach Tyler Bredehoeft. That performance gave Pierson his 6th double-double on the season. Chris Burnell had 10pts and 4asts for the Golden Eagles, Pierson and Burnell were the only two to score in double figures. Aleksa Markovic had a strong performance with 8pts and 8rebs, George Williams chipped in 8pts off the bench. 

"I'm really proud of these guys! They have battled through a ton of adversity all year and they just kept fighting. I am extremely happy for them.", Tyler Bredehoeft said of his team. The Golden Eagles will find out Wednesday what seed they get and who they will play at the National Tournament. The National Tournament will be hosted at Rock Valley College, March 9th through the 12th.

Rock Valley men's basketball secures District title at home | Video | wrex.com

Golden Eagles punch their ticket to National tournament with win over Lorain CC (mystateline.com)