A 15-point deficit in the first quarter proved to be insurmountable Friday night, as Merrillville defeated LaPorte 63-43. The Slicers found themselves down 30-8 midway through the 2nd quarter before a 20-4 run pulled LaPorte within 6, 34-28. The visiting Pirates had an answer for the run however, as they extended the lead back to double digits. LaPorte was led by Nic Spence with 9 pts, 10 rebounds. Malik Corley had 7 pts, 6 rebounds, and Griffin Ott-Large also had 7 points. The Slicers fell to 9-10 with the loss. LaPorte celebrated 6 seniors in the program in a pregame ceremony. Senior team members are Javelle Broome, Nathan Collins, Malik Corley, Rylan Kieszkowski, Dylan Salisbury, and Eli Taylor. Quarterly Scoring: LP: 8 17 7 11|43 MV:23 11 18 11|63 Scoring Summary: LaPorte: 17 (2-8) 43 Spence 9, Corley 7, Ott-Large 7, Kieszkowski 6, Tonagel 6, Salisbury 5, Matzke 3, Broome 0, Taylor 0, Birinci 0 Three-Pointers: Tonagel 2, Corley, Salisbury, Ott-Large, Spence, Matzke Record: 9-9