NEW LONDON - New London's Kade Benjamin threw in 15 points in the first half including three dunks, but it was Blaise Porter's 21 second-half points that did in the Crusaders Friday night.
The two combined for 53 as the Tigers stuck an 87-66 Southeast Iowa Superconference South win on HTC Friday night.
The Tigers raced out to a 21-6 lead through the first quarter, but then HTC settled in and shifted some defensive pressures.
The moves worked as the Crusaders outscored New London 23-20 through the rest of the first half and trailed by just 12, 41-29 at the half.
"The second quarter we played really well. We came out and tried something different in the first quarter and it didn't go our way and we played a little timid and scared," Head Coach John Hellige said.
"Then we relaxed and our second-quarter defense was more effective."
Maddox Rung and Nick Fullenkamp, who's playing in his second game after missing two with the flu, both hit two 3-balls in the second quarter to keep HTC in the game in the second-period run.
But any momentum was lost coming out after the half.
Hellige said there was some timidness on the part of the Crusaders.
"Porter and Benjamin get a lot of notoriety and I don't know if that led to some of our kids being a little afraid. But it's games like this that will pay off for us down the road," he said.
"I told them about when I used to go down to Shopton Park on Sundays and play. If you went there and didn't match the level of aggressiveness and energy, you went home feeling scared and timid. That's kinda what happened tonight."
Conner Gehling, who led HTC with 19 points on the night, scored eight in the final period. But Porter scored nine slashing through the HTC interior defense to help put the game away.
Fullenkamp and Luke Hellige each had 10 points for HTC. Adam Sobczak and Rung had eight points each in the loss.
The Crusaders (1-5, 0-4) take on Burlington Notre Dame (4-1, 3-1) on Tuesday at home, before traveling to Van Buren on Friday.
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