On the same day that he signed a scholarship to play football at William Jewell University, senior Nick Messer caught fire on the basketball court. Messer made six of nine three-pointers and scored 26 points, the most by a Lafayette player this season, as the Lancers dominated Francis Howell, 73-54.

“It helped that I signed with Jewell and that was kind of a relaxer,” Messer said.

The Lancers controlled the game by shooting 50 percent from the field and a solid 39 percent from three-point range. Senior Luke Kreienkamp added 13 points and nine rebounds and sophomore Evan Scales made all five of his shot attempts to finish with 15 points.

After going into halftime with a 41-34 lead, the Lancers outscored the Vikings 42-20 in the second half.

Messer said the team is playing good basketball at just the right time.

“It’s important that we’re turning it on down the stretch, having fun and playing with confidence,” he said.

With the win, the Lancers improved to 11-7 and 3-0 in Conference play to remain tied with Lindbergh atop the Suburban West standings.

The Lancers then faced the MICDS Rams on Feb. 1 and again, Messer scored big, pulling down 21 points in the 57-44 win.

In a big week for Lancer basketball, Lafayette improved to a record of 12-7 and remains undefeated in Conference play.