Mt. Blue’s first four possessions resulted in three turnovers and a blocked shot in the paint as Lawrence (2-2) raced off to an early 8-0 lead, something the Cougars (0-4) never recovered from.

“We came out aggressive, blocked out well and handled the boards,” Lawrence coach Jason Pellerin said. “The start of the game was very good.”

Mason Cooper paved the way for the Bulldogs offensively, knocking down a game high 25 points. Cooper fashioned six points in the first quarter helping Lawrence to an 11-2 lead.

Lawrence continued to apply strong pressure but the Bulldogs turned their game to the inside in the second quarter featuring a powerful game by Seth Powers, who finessed his way to 11 points in the period. Powers finished with 17.

“Seth is an excellent athlete,” Pellerin said. “We have been looking for ways to get him into the game early and tonight he was outstanding on the inside.”

With Powers leading the way the Bulldogs went on a 12-2 tear as the second quarter wound down to take a 30-9 lead. Powers continually used a strong drop step in the paint to find the inside position, his basket kicked off the Bulldog run that put the game out of reach before halftime.

Mt. Blue struggled to find the rim throughout the game, but a 6-0 run in the final minute of the first half narrowed the Lawrence lead to 30-15 at halftime. Evan Backus connected on four straight free throws and Zack Mittelstadt drained a baseline jumper in the final seconds of the second quarter.

“We had too many turnovers early,” Mt. Blue coach Kevin Main said. “They set the tone right from the beginning but our guys worked hard and never gave up.”

A key factor for the Bulldogs was the strong individual defense by Kyle Robinson on the Cougars high scoring Mittelstadt. Although Mittelstadt finished with a team high 16 points Robinson held the high scoring forward to just a single basket, on four shots in the first quarter while the Bulldogs took control of the final outcome.

“We knew we had to deny Mittelstadt the ball because he is such a good shooter,” Robinson said. “We just worked to keep the ball away from him and when he got it force him to keep his back to the basket.”

“Kyle is one of the best defensive players I’ve been around,” Pellerin said. “He does all the good things you want on defense.”

Lawrence added to the lead in the third quarter behind the work of Cooper and Robinson as the advantage swelled to 48-25.

Mt. Blue finished the game converting 6-of-7 from the free throw line while Lawrence connected on 13-of-19.