OAKLAND, Calif. Head-Royce turned a six-point deficit into a 14-0 run that started before halftime and carried into the second half, beating St. Joseph Notre Dame 69-59 on Tuesday. The Jayhawks improved to 13-9. Micah Riebel led Head-Royce with 17 points, and the defense came up with 16 steals.
Mikael Akpala scored the game's first basket on a pass from Bryce Clepper, and Clepper's 3-pointer tied the game at 7. St. Joseph Notre Dame then scored nine straight points and led 16-7, its biggest lead of the game. Clepper hit another 3-pointer, and after the visitors went up 18-10, the Jayhawks scored seven straight. A basket by Clepper, a 3-pointer by Akpala on an assist from Micah Nyamuzuwe and a second-chance basket by Nick Taubes cut the deficit to 18-17.
St. Joseph Notre Dame went back up 25-19. Riebel scored on a basket and a free throw, and Nyamuzuwe hit a 3-pointer off a turnover to tie the game at 25. The visitors answered with a basket and four straight free throws for a 31-25 lead. Riebel then scored two straight baskets, and a basket by Clepper tied the game at 31 at halftime.
Head-Royce scored the first eight points of the second half. Taubes scored off a turnover on a pass from Nyamuzuwe to put the Jayhawks ahead for the first time since 2-0. Akpala added two baskets, and Riebel made two free throws for a 39-31 lead. Taubes hit 3-pointers to make it 44-37 and 47-39. A 7-0 run followed: an Akpala free throw, a second-chance basket by Alex Jones, two free throws by Jack Peay and a basket by Jones off a turnover. That made it 54-40, Head-Royce's biggest lead.
St. Joseph Notre Dame cut the lead to 56-51, but Taubes answered with his third 3-pointer. Baskets by Sam Gulaid and Clepper made it 63-53. The visitors scored the next six points to get within 63-59, but Head-Royce closed with six straight free throws: three by Nyamuzuwe, one by Clepper and two by Riebel.
Riebel scored his 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 7-of-8 free throws, with seven rebounds, three steals, two assists and a block. Taubes finished with 13 points, 11 of them after halftime, and shot 3 of 7 from 3-point range with six rebounds and three steals. Clepper also scored 13, making 5 of 6 shots, and had five assists without a turnover. Akpala added 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and three steals. Nyamuzuwe had three blocks.
Head-Royce forced 14 turnovers and committed 10. The Jayhawks made 16 of 20 free throws (80 percent), while St. Joseph Notre Dame made 14 of 23. Head-Royce shot 41.8 percent from the field to the visitors' 40.4 percent, and 14 of its 23 field goals came on assists. St. Joseph Notre Dame won the rebounding battle, 32-30. The win moved Head-Royce to 13-9 on the season.