|
|
DEC.
13-14 — Leafs Win Big In Sunshine State
Goshen
takes down NCAA Div. II Palm Beach Atlantic; drills
Florida Christian |
West Palm Beach, FL — In addition
to enjoying sunshine and temperatures in the mid-70s for five straight
days, the Goshen College men’s’ basketball team got a pair
of satisfying wins in southeastern Florida this week, defeating Palm
Beach Atlantic University in overtime by an 83-79 score on Monday and
taking out Florida Christian College by a 90-45 count Tuesday night.
And while the games were polar opposites from one another on the court,
head coach Stan Daugherty said he couldn’t have been happier with
the way the brief trip turned out.
“This trip was a success from a basketball standpoint, and I hope
from a team building perspective as well,” Daugherty said. “Our
team represented Goshen College well both on and off of the court.
My hope is that this experience will draw us closer together as a team
as
we head into the tough part of the schedule in the conference.
I really like our competitiveness and our heart. If we continue to grow
in these
areas we will have a good finish to the season.”
Goshen (12-4, 2-2) showed plenty of both qualities in its win
over NCAA Div. II Palm Beach Atlantic, defeating a Sailfish squad that
was off to its best start in school history with an 8-1 record and a perfect
mark at its Rubin Arena home. It appeared early on that the Leafs would
be the Sailfish’s next victim, as an eight for 30 first-half effort
from the field (26.7 percent) could have spelled major trouble for Goshen.
Instead, the Leafs stayed in the game in large part due to their defensive
tenacity, trailing only 21-28 at the half against a team that averaged
89 points per game in its first nine contests. Palm Beach Atlantic shot
12 for 32 from the floor in the first period (37.5 percent), but only
converted one of nine from behind the arc (11.1 percent).
“Our defensive effort in the first half was one of our best of
the season,” Daugherty said. “We did not shoot the ball well
at all, but kept it close thanks to our defensive effort.”
Goshen began to shoot the ball at a better rate in the second
period, but Palm Beach Atlantic had an answer to each Leaf run.
After sophomore David Haire canned a three-pointer to pull Goshen
to a 33-36
deficit at the 11:50 mark, Palm Beach Atlantic responded with
a pair of threes to push its lead to nine points. A Tyler Sheerer
(junior) three-ball
cut the lead to 41-47 with 6:31 to play, but again the Sailfish
responded, connecting on its next two field goals — plus fouls on
both — to
make the score 41-53 with 5:56 remaining in regulation.
Daugherty’s team was relentless, though, and refused to give in.
A 24 to seven Leaf run over the game’s next five and a half minutes
gave Goshen a 65-60 lead — its first of the game — with just
13 seconds remaining. The Leafs made 10 consecutive field goals during
that stretch, and it finally appeared that Palm Beach Atlantic had run
out of answers.
It hadn’t.
The Sailfish’s Jesse McCue canned a falling down three-pointer from
23 feet away with nine seconds remaining, making the score 65-63, Goshen.
After Haire made one of two free throws with 5.2 seconds remaining, it
was McCue again, this time hitting a double-pump fade away three from
the baseline as the clock expired. The game was tied at 66-66.
“After (McCue) hit those two shots, it would have been easy to
just give in to a tough circumstance,” Daugherty said. “We
had played so hard up to that point, it was just really tough
to see his last shot go down. Our guys showed tremendous heart in the
overtime to
pull out the win.”
Much of that heart came from junior Eric Walsh, who scored the
first five points for the Leafs in the extra stanza to give his team a
71-68 advantage. Goshen would never relinquish that lead, making its last
eight free throws to ice the game in an 83-79 score. Walsh poured in a
game-high 34 points to go with 16 rebounds, all before fouling out with
41 seconds remaining in overtime.
“Eric was his typical self late in the game, and I was very pleased
with his decision making,” Daugherty said. “He had three or
four (defenders) around him on several possessions, and he trusted
his teammates by getting the ball to them. We made some big three pointers
as a result, and came up with an enormous win.”
Sophomore Willie Frazier scored 13 points and grabbed seven rebounds
before fouling out, while freshman Brice Hartman scored 10 points. Junior
Jordan Buller chipped in nine points to go with a game-high 10 assists,
while senior Troy Springer scored three points and grabbed eight rebounds
in just 15 minutes of work.
Savoring that win just 24 hours later, Goshen drilled a clearly
overmatched Florida Christian team to round off its Florida swing.
The Leafs controlled Tuesday night’s contest against the Suns from
the outset, taking a 50-12 lead at halftime and holding Florida Christian
scoreless for the game’s first nine minutes. Sheerer led the Leafs
with 18 points on a five for six effort from the three-point
arc, while Hartman added 13 points on five for eight shooting. Walsh and
senior Paul
Kopanski each scored 10, while freshman Sam Ryan scored a career-high
eight points to go with six rebounds. Freshman Tyler Springer
scored five points and grabbed a career-high seven boards, while every
player scored
in the 90-45 rout.
“The game against Florida Christian was a good game for our young
players to get some quality playing time,” Daugherty said. “I
was very pleased with the way we moved the ball on offense and
hit our open shots. We played very solid defense and didn't get sloppy
in our
execution.”
The two-game road swing in Florida was Goshen’s second trip to the
sunshine state in three years and its final contests for the
calendar year, as the Leafs will now enjoy the Christmas holiday
before returning to action on New Year’s
Day. The Leafs will face NCAA Div. II Grand Valley State
University in Allendale, Mich. on Jan. 1. That game promises
to be the toughest test
yet for Daugherty’s squad, as the host Lakers lost to perennial
powerhouse Michigan State University by a 62-77 score on Nov.
10. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
|
 Junior
Eric Walsh
|
|
|
|
|
|
