The Atlantic Trojans boys basketball team fell to the Harlan Cyclones 59-44 in Des Moines Tuesday night. Despite a good showing in the opening quarter the Trojans were unable to carry that momentum through the rest of the game. Although the game remained competitive in the second quarter the cyclones were able to pull away in the second half to pick up there seventh win of the season.

Atlantic had a very good showing in the first quarter. The game went back and forth early on and Atlantic led for most of the first quarter. Although Harlan did not play their best, the Trojans were able take advantage of opportunities. Kinnick Juhl knocked down a pair of long balls while Shelton Mualia and Gavin McLaren grabbed two field goals each as the game was tight one heading into the second.

Harlan played much better in the second half. They cleaned up a lot of their turnovers and started to find more of an offensive groove. After being held to a single field goal and four free throws in the opening frame, Dallas McDowell doubled his output in the second quarter. McDowell scored nine of Harlan’s 12 points in the frame. Although Atlantic played well enough to stay in the game, the momentum had switch as the cyclones went to the locker room with a 28-23 lead.

Despite being a close game at the half, the Trojans were never able to recapture their form from the first quarter. Although they had bursts of good play (including some good offensive rebounding), they could not find a long, extended run to chip into the growing Cyclone lead. Sawyer Terrell hit on a pair of long balls while Mualia led the way in the second half with a trio of field goals to finish with 10 points.  Juhl added a field goal and a three-pointer to lead the team with 11. McDowell added 12 more points for Harlan to lead the game with 27.

The Trojans fell to 2-17 on the year and will be back in action on Friday when they visit Lenox. The Cyclones moved to 7-11 and will be back at home Thursday to face off against Treynor

Kinnick Juhl led the way for Atlantic with 11 points while Shelton Mualia wasnt far behind with 10