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FEB.
8 — Leafs Take Out 8th-Ranked Huntington, 76-71
Squad
comes back from 12-point deficit to claim monster win
in raucous arena |
Goshen, IN — For the Goshen faithful
in attendance at the Roman Gingerich Center Tuesday night, it was a made
for TV moment.
It’s a good thing the cameras were rolling.
Playing in its first-ever televised home game (click here for
details) against the eighth-ranked Huntington College Foresters, the Goshen
College men’s basketball team came up with an enormous, come-from-behind
76-71 win that left a manic student-body crowd yearning for more after
the final buzzer had sounded. The win marked the first Leafs’ victory
over a Huntington team since the 1997-1998 season and placed Goshen (18-10,
7-7) back into third place in the ever-tight Mid-Central Conference standings,
ending a two-game losing skid in the process.
“I was really pleased with the effort and resolve that our guys
showed in tonight’s game,” said Stan Daugherty, Goshen head
coach. “We’ve talked all year long about not giving in to
tough circumstances and staying together, and tonight we did
both. Obviously, it was a huge win for us against an excellent team.”
An early arriving crowd witnessed the Foresters take an 11-3
lead just four and a half minutes into the action, as Goshen missed five
of its first six shots from the field. Perhaps more detrimental to the
Leafs during that stretch was the foul-problems of leading scorer and
rebounder Eric Walsh (junior), who was whistled for his second infraction
of the game at the 15:51 mark. Still, Daugherty’s team remained
calm. A six to two run closed the gap to 13-9 with 14:03 to play in the
first period, but Huntington responded with a seven to one run to push
its lead back to 10 points (a 20-10 advantage). After a three-point play
by junior Jordan Buller cut the Forester lead back to seven, Walsh was
whistled for his third foul with just under 10 minutes to play in the
half. Things did not look promising for the Leafs.
“Eric got caught in some bad positions and made a poor decision
on his third foul,” said Cory Furman, Goshen assistant coach. “Over
the years here he has learned how to play his aggressive style
of basketball without being reckless. In the first half tonight, I think
his desire
to win got him trying to do a bit too much, and he paid for it
with foul troubles.”
Even with Walsh on the bench, Daugherty’s team remained poised and
fought to stay close. Three first-half fouls on Huntington’s leading
scorer and rebounder helped to offset Walsh’s hindrance, and the
Leafs went into the locker room at halftime down by a 29-36 score, though
the team had cut the Forester lead to five points on three different occasions
in the period’s final five minutes.
Any momentum that Goshen had been trying to generate in the waning
moments of the first half quickly dissipated at the beginning of the second,
however, as Huntington stormed out of the locker room to grab its largest
lead of the game — a 43-31 advantage — just two and a half
minutes in. Goshen used a strong presence on the offensive boards and
some timely shooting to cut the Huntington lead back to five points on
three different trips in the game’s next five minutes, but the Foresters
had an answer each time. A 53-46 Huntington lead with 12:05 remaining
would slowly deteriorate, however, as Daugherty’s team began to
play better basketball.
Buller scored another three-point play. Junior Tyler Sheerer
buried a three-pointer. Senior Paul Kopanski got an offensive rebound
putback to fall, followed by another Sheerer three-ball. Over the course
of four minutes, Goshen had put an 11 to four run on Huntington, tying
the game at 57-57 with 8:02 remaining. After Huntington’s Doug Sheckler
converted a pair of free throws, it was Walsh who rang a huge three-pointer,
giving his team its first lead of the game at 60-59 with 7:21 on the game
clock.
Amazingly, it was a lead the Leafs would not relinquish.
Even with the Foresters knocking in their last 18 free throws
of the game and eight in the final five minutes, Goshen would not give
up its lead. The Leafs got big defensive stops and crucial offensive execution
in the game’s final six and a half minutes to pull out the win,
converting on 10 of its own final 12 free throw attempts to seal the outcome.
Huntington cut the Goshen lead to a single point three different times
in the contest’s last five minutes, but each time Goshen responded.
Sophomore Willie Frazier’s power layup with 1:26 remaining would
be the Leafs’ final field goal of the night, but it gave the team
a 70-67 lead. Daugherty’s team got a big defensive stop on the Foresters’ next
possession, and Huntington was forced to foul. Goshen had hung on to get
its 10th home win of the season.
“Our defensive effort in the second half was outstanding,” Daugherty
said. “That effort was what allowed us to get back in the game.
We were not great offensively in the second half, but we did
hit some big shots. Tyler and Eric were very good in the second half and
both made
some big plays. Paul Kopanski played extremely hard and his effort
on the boards was huge. Jordan was aggressive all night and made things
happen
in the second half. Willie played sound defense and was a key
part in some big stops in the second half. We knew it would take an all-out
effort
from all of us, and fortunately we were able to make enough plays
late to win it.”
Walsh and Sheerer led the Leafs’ offensive charge, each scoring
19 points with Sheerer scoring 15 and Walsh 16 in the second half, respectively.
Buller chipped in 18 points and four assists, while Kopanski tallied 13
points to go with a career-high 14 rebounds. Frazier scored six points,
all in the second half. Goshen limited Huntington to just a 10 for 31
second-half effort from the field (32.3 percent) after the Foresters torched
the nets in the first half, shooting 14 of 27 (51.9 percent). Goshen’s
26 for 61 effort from the floor (42.6 percent) was enough to get it done
thanks in large part to 12 offensive rebounds, giving the team three more
shots from the floor than Huntington. Overall, Goshen outrebounded the
Foresters by a 36 to 30 margin.
The win placed Goshen atop a pack of six teams searching for
home-court advantage in the MCC Tournament’s first round, but only
slightly. Goshen currently sits third in league standings, though a loss
against Huntington would have placed the Leafs in sole possession of eighth
place. For a complete view of the jam-packed MCC race, click here.
“We can’t lose sight of trying to get better and continuing
to improve over the next couple of weeks,” Daugherty said. “A
lot is made of how competitive our league is, but all we can focus on
is getting
better and preparing for one game at a time.”
The tasks get no easier for the Leafs, as the nation’s 12th-ranked
team, Taylor University, will visit the Roman Gingerich Center
on Saturday in Goshen’s final regular-season home contest. Goshen
will honor its two seniors, Kopanski and Troy Springer, before
the game. Tip-off is slated for 3 p.m. |
  Junior
Eric Walsh
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