Surrey head coach David Jackson and his Mustangs squad utilized efficient inside-outside scoring to topple the TGU Titans in a Region 6 clash Thursday night.

Hunting for a victory to usher in 2023, Surrey and TGU duked it out in a Region 6 hardwood battle on Thursday night as both teams focused on kicking off the new year in winning fashion.

In search of more consistent gameplay, it has been a tale of two teams for the Surrey Mustangs (1-4 overall, 0-0 Region 6) in their four losses thus far, epitomized by the discrepancy between a heartbreaking 2-point defeat at the hands of Garrison in the season opener, an 8-point loss to Stanley, and falling short by 20 points to both Flasher and Wilton-Wing.

However, despite a slow start that was integral in the four-consecutive losses to begin the season, the Mustangs leapt into their matchup against TGU with positive momentum, aiming to use their most recent 67-63 victory over New Salem-Almont on Dec. 30 as a launching pad towards earning their first Region 6 win of the 2022-2023 schedule.

Conversely, on the opposite side of the North Dakota boys’ high school basketball spectrum are the TGU Titans (2-4 overall, 1-0 Region 6), who after opening the new season 2-1 have stumbled into a 3-game losing streak as of late.

Falling to Tioga, Stanley, and Harvey/Wells County in the past three weeks of play, the Titans entered Thursday night’s matchup hoping to reclaim their form from victories against Benson County and Region 6 foe Our Redeemer’s.

Bursting at the seams with palpable hoops energy and a jukebox worth of tunes courtesy of the ever-lively school band, a fan-packed Surrey High gymnasium served as the setting for one of the teams to capture not just a win, but also much-needed momentum as both head into the heart of regional competition.

Following a rousing clarinette rendition of the National Anthem, tip-off saw TGU freshman forward Sage Hanson notch the first offensive possession of the game, yet it was the home team Mustangs that would explode to a 12-0 lead just four minutes into the contest thanks exclusively to keen shooting from outside the arc.

In spite of a TGU timeout intended to cool off the red-hot sharpshooting of Surrey, the Mustangs continued their onslaught from the outside, as a triple from eighth grader Colin Vollmer capped off a 17-0 run before Titans sophomore forward Jaxon Nelson ended the TGU scoring drought with a basket to end the quarter with 17-2 showing on the scoreboard.

With their work cut out for them, TGU headed into the next eight minutes of action in search of a scoring spark, chipping away at the Surrey lead and almost narrowing the deficit to just single digits after a deep three from sophomore Brooklyn Johnson brought the score to 9-19.

However, the decreased margin was short-lived, as senior William Mayo showed off his shooting range on the Mustangs’ next trip down the court, kindling a scoring burst that would propel Surrey to a 26-12 advantage at the half.

Smelling blood in the water, Surrey picked up where they left off before the halfway mark, riding the hot shooting hands of Lucas and Colin Vollmer, along with the versatile inside-outside stretch play of Mayo, to a 17-7 run across the duration of the third quarter and further swelling the ballooning Mustangs lead to 43-19 entering the final 8 minutes of battle.

Holding on to hope of a fourth-quarter miracle, gritty efforts on the defensive end and in the paint offensively by TGU twin towers Karson Haman and Sage Hanson were not enough to offset an impressive all-around team performance by Surrey, spearheaded by a stat-busting outing by Mayo that ultimately solidified the Mustangs’ first Region 6 victory of the season in a 52-31 final.

Paced by double-digit scoring via Will Mayo (15) and Lucas Vollmer (14), Surrey also saw balanced contributions from Colin Vollmer (9), Ethan Amundson (6), Ayden Amundson (4), Kanoa Munos (2), and Dalton Walker (2).

TGU’s Ty Schmitt and Brooklyn Johnson tied for the team-lead in scoring with 8 points each in the loss, followed by Jaxon Nelson (7), Sage Hanson (5), and Karson Haman (3).

Gunning for their third-consecutive win on Saturday, Surrey will hit the road to face-off against Velva in a matchup slated to tip-off at 3 p.m., while TGU looks to break a four-game losing skid as they host North Prairie today at 5:30 p.m.