The East Union Lancers had three players score at least 15 points, played suffocating defense and dominated Nevada Union on the boards on the way to a 66-50 victory in the opening round of the Sac-Joaquin Section III playoffs Wednesday night.

It’s the program’s first home playoff win since 2004.

“It means a ton getting this win for this program that has come so far,” senior guard Zydell King said. “The atmosphere tonight was electric, our students brought it and we were just happy we could get the job done.”

King led the No. 6 seeded Lancers (22-7) with 17 points, getting to the rim at will when the offense went quiet for small stretches throughout the game.

One of those stretches came early in the first quarter, as the No. 11 Nevada Union (18-13) jumped out to a 7-2 lead.

“There were definitely some nerves early,” East Union coach Dalton Ell said. “We came out maybe a little too amped and needed to settle into the game.”

King was a big part of the Lancers settling in, getting to the basket and scoring at the line. Four second-chance points from Selesi Toki and two huge 3s from junior Ayande Johnson (15 points) propelled East Union to a 14-0 run to take back momentum. A 3-pointer from the game’s leading scorer Nevada Union’s Mark Williams (26 points) late in the quarter sent the teams to the first intermission with the Lancers on top 16-10.

A 3-pointer from Miners guard Aiden Panock (7 points) cut the lead to 18-15 a few minutes into the second quarter. As they’d done all season long, the Lancers turned to their defensive unit to get them back on track.

After one of eight turnovers in the quarter for Nevada Union, forward Rico Johnson (five points) caught an outlet pass and threw down a one-handed slam that sent the student section into a frenzy. The play would kick off a 5 minute stretch that would see the Lancers go on a 14-2 run and take a 32-17 lead into halftime.

“Man it is so fun to coach these guys when they are playing the way they did in that second quarter,” Ell said. “Transition baskets set us up to press and force turnovers, which leads to more easy baskets, and before you know it, you’ve grown the lead to double digits in the blink of an eye.”

In addition to smothering the Miners on the defensive end, East Union was able to limit second-chance opportunities while coming up with offensive rebounds themselves by outrebounding Nevada Union by a significant margin.

Lorenzo Jones came up with 18 rebounds himself to go along with 16 points, many of them coming on put-backs or from the free throw line after getting a rebound over a taller defender.

“I just try to work harder than everyone else out there,” Jones said. “I’ve played with my guys long enough to have a good idea of their misses and just try to get myself in position to have a chance at the rebound.”

Led by senior guard Jackson Fay (eight points), defensive pressure and easy transition baskets would continue for the Lancers into the third quarter, stretching the lead to 40-21 just a few minutes into the second half. Williams and the Miners would not go away, however, as the senior poured in eight of his 26 points in the third to help Nevada Union cut the lead to 10 heading into the final intermission, 46-36.

“Credit to them they did not go away,” Ell said. “They were able to get out themselves a bit there in the third and it caused us to have to reset ourselves defensively and lock back in.”

The teams traded buckets in the first half of the fourth quarter after an Isaac DeFeyter (11 points) jump shot cut the East Union lead to 53-45 with just two minutes to go.

After an empty possession for the Lancers, King would come up with a steal of Williams on the next possession, going the length of the floor to finish the layup while getting intentionally fouled by the senior standout. King would make one of two from the line to stretch the lead back to 11 after what was the play of the game and maybe the season for the Lancers.

“I knew someone needed to make a play,” King said. “I was able to get my hand on the ball then the whole length of the floor I knew contact was coming so it was just a matter of bracing myself and making sure I could still finish.”

The Lancers would finish the quarter scoring 10 points from the line, extending their lead to what would be a 66-50 final.

The win for East Union sets up a rematch with the 3 seed Twelve Bridges, which eliminated the Lancers in the first round of the playoffs last year.

“We know that’s a really good team up there in what will be a really tough environment to play in,” Ell said. “But we’ve said it all year long, the way we play travels, and if we can bottle the way we played in stretches tonight, we’ll give ourselves a really good shot.”

Tipoff from Lincoln will take place at 7 p.m. on Friday night.