by United Tribes needed a win and it wasn’t going to be easy with the conference leading Royals of Lake Region State College coming to town. The Royals were sitting at the top with a perfect 4-0 mark coming in to Monday’s Mon Dak Conference game. The Thunderbirds came out of the gates fast, racing to a 25-9 lead in the early going. The Royals would make a run of their own to tie it before a late Rob McClain Jr. (Mvskoke Creek) layup at the buzzer gave Tribes a 40-38 lead at half. Coming out of the locker room, Lake Region would take an early second half lead and the lead exchanged hands many times before the Thunderbirds took control late on some timely shooting from McClain and Montel Carlow (Oglala Lakota) who both nailed three big threes down the stretch to give the Thunderbirds the lead and the game. McClain had another monster game in leading Tribes to the 82-71 win. He dominated the first half with 19 points while shooting 8-11 from the field. In the second half Lake Region looked to double McClain and that was able to free others for open looks. McClain had his fourteenth double double of the season finishing with 26 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 4 blocks, and 2 steals. The Thunderbirds placed four players in double figures. Montel Carlow had 21 points and 5 assists, Chayton York finished with 12, and Steven Redfox Jr. had a big game off the bench with 12 points and 4 rebounds.
