Boys basketball: Merrillville rallies for win over Michigan City

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Updated: February 29, 2012 8:09AM

MICHIGAN CITY — Nobody received style points Friday night. But somebody had to win.

And while Merrillville coach T.J. Lux might have been shaking his head at the less-than-stellar play, he was happy to be leaving Michigan City with a victory after his Pirates rallied in the fourth quarter to knock off the Wolves 40-36 in Duneland Conference play.

“It was sloppy,” Lux said. “We struggled shooting the ball in the first half, and we might have set a Duneland Conference record for the number of traveling calls we had. But the guys stepped up and made plays at the end of the game. This is part of the growth and maturation process we’re going through.”

The win was Merrillville’s 10th straight over Michigan City, dating back to the 2007-08 season.

“It was very ugly,” Wolves coach John Boyd said. “It was a game we gave away. And we keep giving them away. Merrillville knew how to do some things and control the ball better at the end of the game than we did.”

Michigan City (7-6, 6-4 Duneland) led 32-26 with less than six minutes to play in the fourth quarter. But Merrillville (7-6, 6-4 DAC) rattled off nine straight points and led 35-32 with 2:20 to play after Jelani Pruitt scored off a Wolves turnover.

Down 39-36 in the waning seconds, the Wolves had a pair of chances to tie but couldn’t come through, missing a 3-pointer and turning the ball over on an inbounds play with 5.7 seconds left.

“I don’t know what they ran, but that’s not what I drew up,” Boyd said.

Pruitt led Merrillville with 13 points, while B.J. Jenkins came off the bench to score 13.

Washington paced Michigan City with 18.