|
|
JAN.
28 — Marian Too Hot For Goshen; Slump Continues
Leafs
correct offensive deficiencies but falter on defense
in 80-84 defeat |
Goshen, IN — Coming into Saturday’s
Mid-Central Conference game against Marian College, the Goshen men’s
basketball team was looking to end a three-game losing streak where the
team had not shot better than 37 percent in any of those contests.
In this case, one out of two wasn’t all that fabulous.
Goshen (13-11, 5-6) managed to connect on 50 percent of its total
field goal attempts against the Knights in the Roman Gingerich
Center but allowed Marian to make an incredible 66.7 percent
of its tries in
an 80-84 loss, pushing the Leafs’ skid to four straight in the process.
The current losing streak is the program’s longest since the 2003-2004
season, where that Goshen team dropped eight straight games before
finishing with a 21-12 overall record. Until Saturday, Goshen’s
longest losing streak topped out at three games in each of the
past two seasons.
Following the team’s most recent loss, Goshen head coach Stan Daugherty
was focused on his team’s defensive inadequacies, as Marian made
32 of a 48 total shots Saturday afternoon.
“We never seemed to play with the defensive intensity for any
length of time to make it hard for them to score,” Daugherty said. “We
scored 80 points and our offense made some improvements from
Tuesday’s
game (a 57-60 loss to Spring Arbor University; game
recap), but
then we were not very good defensively. We were not very good defending
on the
ball or in the post. We did not contest shots very well throughout
the game. You are not going to beat anybody letting them shoot 68 percent
for a game from the field.”
It appeared that Daugherty’s team would have no such defensive troubles
from the game’s outset, as the Leafs held Marian scoreless on the
Knights’ first three offensive possessions en route to a quick 5-0
lead out of the gates. Marian responded by making nine of its next 10
shots, however, turning a 5-0 deficit into a 21-17 lead with 12:11 remaining
in the first half. After senior Jordan Buller’s made three-pointer
gave Goshen its biggest lead of the game with 14:24 to play in the first
half (a 17-11 advantage), Marian reeled off a 13 to nothing run to make
it 24-17, Knights, with 11:14 remaining. Goshen was able to cut the lead
to 23-26 with 8:49 to play in the period, but Marian closed with an 11
to eight run to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room at intermission.
After Marian shot 65.2 percent in the first half (15 of 23),
Goshen attempted to turn up its defensive efforts.
But things got slightly worse.
Marian improved its shooting clip to 68 percent in the second
20 minutes, making 17 of 25 attempts in hanging on to an eight-point lead
for much of the period. Goshen was able to get back in the mix thanks
in large part to hot shooting of its own — the Leafs knocked in
19 of 34 second-half tries, 55.9 percent — and Marian’s ineptitude
at the free throw line. After making four out of four first-half freebies,
the Knights were only able to convert 11 of 17 second-half attempts, opening
the door for Daugherty’s team in the process.
After a 64-51 Knights’ lead with 7:12 on the game clock — the
biggest lead of the game — Goshen began to chip away methodically
at the difference. A three-pointer by sophomore Brice Hartman
started a five to nothing Leafs’ run which was halted by a big three-ball
on Marian’s end with 4:59 to play.
Following another three by Buller and a layup by junior Willie
Frazier, Goshen had cut the Knights’ lead to just six points — 64-70
with 3:49 to play — a magic number that the Leafs would not see
again until 38 seconds remained. After Marian kept its lead at no fewer
than seven points over the game’s next three minutes, a layup by
junior Matt Crawford made the score 80-75 with :35 remaining. Marian converted
just one of two free throws on its next trip, and a three-ball from Crawford
on Goshen’s next possession made the score 81-78.
Following another make and miss from Marian at the foul line,
it was Buller who drove and scored a layup, cutting the lead to just two
points — 82-80 — with just two seconds remaining. Without
timeouts and forced to foul, Goshen could not wrestle down a Marian player
until just .2 seconds remained on the game clock, effectively ending the
last-ditch comeback attempt. Marian scored its final two foul shots for
the final four-point difference, as Goshen was technically unable to get
a shot off with .2 on the clock.
The Knights’ shooting was the ultimate deciding factor in the contest,
as Goshen committed three less turnovers (seven to 10) and grabbed
twice as many offensive rebounds as Marian (six to three). Sadly
for Leafs fans,
there weren’t many Marian misses to collect (Goshen had just 22
defensive rebounds, Marian had 26).
Buller and classmate Eric Walsh led Goshen’s offensive efforts,
scoring 20 points apiece. Crawford added 11 on five of seven
shooting, while Hartman scored 10 on a four of nine effort. Frazier
scored nine
points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds in the loss, while
junior David Haire scored six points. Buller led the team with
six assists. Walsh
grabbed six rebounds. The game marked just the 15th time in
Daugherty’s five-year tenure that a Goshen team had lost when scoring
at least 80 points.
“Offensively, I liked how we shared the ball and we shot the ball
much better than the last three games,” Daugherty said. “I
also liked our competitive spirit late in the game to come back
and give ourselves a chance to win, but we just dug too big of a whole
with only
four minutes to play. Right now we need to focus on improving
on defense and maintaining a good flow on offense. We also have to start
making more
plays at the end of close games. We have said all along that
there is such a fine line between winning and losing in our league. We
have had
our share of making plays and winning close games in the last
two years, but right now we are not making those plays late. We have to
keep working
hard and putting ourselves in a position to win conference games.”
Goshen will return to the road for another tough MCC challenge,
as the team will face off against Indiana Wesleyan University Tuesday
night in Marion, Indiana. Game time is set for 7 p.m. |
  Senior
Eric Walsh
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
