Late Rally Not Enough for #6 Bulldogs as They Fall to #2 DeSmet
- RoMoAthletics
- Jan 29
- 5 min read
January 29th, 2026
One of the biggest match-ups of the season had to wait one more day as the snow storm pushed back the contest between state ranked Class 6 powers the Rolla Bulldogs and the DeSmet Spartans.
After a back and forth contest to start the game featuring 5 lead changes, the hot shooting Spartans were able to build a lead that was too much for the Bulldogs to overcome despite a late game rally, falling 72-84.
Slow Start for the DAWGS
Bulldogs struck first on a traditional 3 point play by 6’4” Sr guard Ethan Brown that set the tone for the Bulldogs early in the game as they scored 12 of their 15 first quarter points in the paint on 6 assists. DeSmet answered the Bulldogs with 3 from behind the arc in the quarter including 2 by 6’5” Sr guard Braden Butler on his way to an 8 point quarter.
It was a hard fought back-in-forth battle in the first 4 minutes with multiple lead changes. The last Bulldog lead was just over 4 minutes in the first quarter when they held an 11 to 10 lead. Back-to-back turnovers by the Bulldogs sparked a 12-4 DeSmet run to close out the quarter.
The Bulldogs long range shooting must not have gotten the notice of the game change as they went 0 for 3 in the first quarter and 1 for 7 in the half. Meanwhile, DeSmet who last year in their victory took advantage of our zone defense and pounded us with a 3 point barrage, continued to shoot well going 6-9 from three in the first half including multiple deep buckets with a Bulldog defenders hand in their face.
The DeSmet defense caused problems throughout the first half creating 5 turnovers in the first quarter and 3 in the second. This led to 10 transition points for DeSmet while the Bulldogs were not able to get a single point in transition. In Tuesday’s Inside the Huddle interview with Coach Mark Miller, he spoke about the importance of playing with “composed intensity” against high quality teams. That was a battle that the Bulldogs failed to win in the first half, as they trailed heading into intermission, 27-46.
Too Little Too Late
DeSmet chose to slow the game down in the 2nd half and take advantage of their lead and limit the number of possessions for the Bulldogs. DeSmet was able to extend the lead to 24 points and it seemed like the spiral might continue.
Trailing 33-57 midway through the 3rd period, Brown pulled up from the volleyball line to knock down his only 3 of the game to spark an 18-7 run to close out the quarter. The Bulldogs, who had zero transition points in the first half, bounced back with 8 during the run as well as 10 points off turnovers in the second half.
The Bulldogs found their “controlled intensity” that Coach Miller was asking for before the game. The Bulldogs committed 8 turnovers in the opening half and only committed 1 more for the game. They did not give up a transition point in the second half which helped the Bulldogs cut the lead to 8 points late in the 4th quarter.
Alas, the Bulldogs were not able to muster a final push as DeSmet extended their offense and worked the clock forcing the Bulldogs to foul. DeSmet closed out the game going 10-11 from the line
"It was good that we came out in the second half and kept fighting and ended up bringing it to single digits in the fourth. I liked our fight and we didn’t quit. Just kept going and I wish we could get that first half back", said Brown.
The Bulldogs enjoyed having 4 double digit scorers the last two games but they had the tables turned against DeSmet as their Big 4 accounted for 70 of their 84 points.
Butler led the Spartans in scoring, netting a career high 21 points knocking down 4 3’s and a couple of high flying dunks. 6’ Jr guard Will Foulk had an efficient night scoring 19 points on 8 for 13 shooting while handing out 6 assists. The Indiana State commit, 6’1” Sr guard Ian Thomas had 18 points and pulled down 8 rebounds. 6’5” Sr guard Jordan Boyd, who has signed with Northern Iowa, finished with 12.
The Wrap Up
The inconsistency shooting from the outside again plagued the Bulldogs as they drop to 16-3 on the season. In their 3 losses of the season, the Bulldogs have shot 31% while shooting 35% in their wins. Shooting only 29.4% from 3 last night wasn’t good, but defending the 3 was the real challenge.
The Bulldogs have held teams to 29% from 3 in their wins this season while allowing teams to shoot 38% from behind the arc in their losses. Last night, DeSmet shot 59.5% from 3.
Digging ourselves an early hole due to turnovers and giving up offensive rebounds helped DeSmet outscore Rolla 12 to 4 on second chance points. Talking with 6’2” Sr guard Jenson Thomas after the game, he called this out as an area that needs to be improved. “One thing we could do better is crashing the boards and not giving up second chance points. We have started to do better as a team in that way over the last two games.”
Brown and Thomas were the only two players in double figures for the Bulldogs. Brown finished with 26 pts, 6 boards and 7 assists while Jenson had 21 pts, 6 boards, and 4 assists. 6’4” Sr forward Easton Smith found his shooting touch that made him a 4 year starter going 2 for 2 from 15’ at crucial times.
Thomas highlighted the “controlled intensity” that the Bulldogs were able to obtain in the 2nd half. “I think that a good takeaway from last night was the late game intensity that we had, down 24 and bringing it back to eight at one point definitely showed good toughness on our part.”
Brown felt that even though it was a loss, it did a lot to prepare them for a playoff run. "We’re gonna see good teams down the road and hopefully see a team like Desmet later in the playoffs. It’s a good look of what we’re going to have to go through and was good to get a look at it"
If you were not able to watch the game, you can watch it on the Game Day Feed.
Next Up
2nd to last home game against Battle (12-7)
Last season was a 73-65 come from behind win for the Bulldogs
Rolla is 6-0 at home on the season while Battle is 4-1
Rolla is averaging 70.6 PPG vs Battle at 63.3 PPG
Rolla’s defense is allowing 52.9 PA while Battle is at 56.9 PA
STATS Rolla 72, DeSmet 84
The individual scoring (FG-FT-TP):
Rolla (16-3): Thomas 8-3-21, Richter 2-2-7, Gideon 2-2-6, Ledbetter 2-0-5, Brown 9-7-26, Smith 2-0-4, Robinson 1-1-3
DeSmet (15-2): Foulk 8-1-19, Boyd 4-3-12, Butler 6-5-21, Harper 1-1-3, Thomas 7-2-18, Janes 4-1-9, Ronken 1-0-2
The score by periods:
TEAM Q1 Q2 Q3 Q4 F
Rolla 15 12 24 21 72
DeSmet 22 24 18 20 84
Comments