NORTH ROBINSON — Colonel Crawford’s boys basketball team faced a tough challenge at Mac Morrison Gymnasium on Saturday night. Northern-10 Athletic Conference rival, and current No. 1 team in all of Ohio (Division II), the Upper Sandusky Rams were in town to battle it out with the Eagles.

Upper Sandusky would continue to show their dominance and went on to defeat Colonel Crawford by a final score of 82-54.

The Eagles drop to 8-4 overall on the season and 6-2 in N-10 play while the Rams bump their record to 13-0 overall and 8-0 in conference play.

Colonel Crawford put up quite the fight. As a team, the Eagles shot well from the interior at 18/28 or 64%. The perimeter shooting was down a bit at 3/11 (27%) and Crawford was 9/10 from the free-throw stripe. Upper Sandusky, however, went 21/32 (66%) from inside and 13/22 (59%) from three-point range. The Rams attempted just two free-throws on the night, converting one. Colonel Crawford would out-rebound Upper, 21-20. One of the game changers in the matchup may have been the turnover figures. The Eagles, uncharacteristically, committed 14 turnovers on the night to the Rams’ five. Crawford also recorded 16 assists, three blocks and two steals as a team.

Another possible game changer was that the Upper defense held freshman Cameron McCreary scoreless. McCreary, who averages 13+ points per game, did have 11 assists, two steals and a rebound throughout the contest. The Eagles looked to other contributors on offense against the tenacious Rams’ defense. Harley Shaum stepped up with 14 points on the night to go with five rebounds and a block. Heath Starkey put up the exact same stat line as Shaum against Upper. Jordan Fenner finished the matchup with 10 points and three assists. Gavin Feichtner pitched in seven points and four rebounds. Brody Martin had a low-scoring night as well with just five points and two assists. Hayden Bute and Reis Walker added two points apiece.

Colonel Crawford looks to bounce back with two conference games at home this week. On Friday Jan. 20, the Eagles will play host to the Carey Blue Devils. They will then turn around and play the Mohawk Warriors on Saturday.