By Paul Lecker

Sports Reporter

SPENCER — The Spencer boys basketball team rolled to its eighth-straight win, defeating Loyal 59-49 in a Cloverbelt Conference East Division matchup Tuesday night at Spencer High School.

Nate Mercier scored 15 points, Bobby Pilz added 13, and Ryan Busse chipped in 11 for the Rockets, who improve to 13-1 overall and remain perfect at 10-0 in the Cloverbelt East. Spencer holds a three-game lead in the loss column over Neillsville and Columbus Catholic, which are both 9-3 in conference play.

Loyal is now 7-9 and 5-7 in the conference.

Spencer led 42-30 after three quarters and maintained its double-digit lead through the fourth quarter.

The Rockets made 17 of 23 free throws and six 3-pointers in the victory.

Spencer returns to action Friday at Granton.

(Hub City Times Sports Reporter Paul Lecker is also the publisher of MarshfieldAreaSports.com.)

Rockets 59, Greyhounds 49

Loyal 8 12 10 19 – 49

Spencer 10 15 17 17 – 59

LOYAL (49): Howard 2-4 2-2 6, Brussow 6-16 1-2 15, Geiger 2-5 1-1 6, Roehl 0-1 0-2 0, Prust 3-10 5-6 11, Genteman 1-2 0-0 2, Zimmerman 1-1 0-0 3, Ryley Fischer 3-9 0-1 6. FG: 18-48. FT: 9-14. 3-pointers: 4-11 (Brussow 2-7, Zimmerman 1-1, Geiger 1-2, Howard 0-1). Record: 7-9, 5-7 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.

SPENCER (59): Noah Zastrow 0-0 0-2 0, Nate Mercier 4-9 4-4 15, Calvin Lenz 1-4 4-6 6, Bobby Pilz 5-17 2-2 13, Miles Weber 2-2 2-2 6, Ryan Busse 3-4 5-7 11, Mitch Susa 2-8 0-0 6, Dakota Andreae 1-2 0-0 2. FG: 20-46. FT: 17-23. 3-pointers: 6-21 (Mercier 3-8, Susa 2-7, Pilz 1-6). Record: 13-1, 10-0 Cloverbelt Conference East Division.