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JAN.
3 — Goshen Gets Back To Winning As MCC Rolls On
Team
keeps churning in league play following four losses in
five-game stretch |
Mishawaka, IN — Following a five-game
stretch that saw the Goshen College men’s basketball team lose four
times — with just one of those games coming in Mid-Central Conference
action — senior guard Jordan Buller didn’t seem panicked.
“After each game, he kept reminding all of us that it’s about
conference play,” said Cory Furman, Goshen head assistant coach. “We
obviously don’t like losing, and we’ve become unaccustomed
to it. But we’d trade in a non-conference loss every time if it
helps us get better when we play in the league.”
Tuesday, Goshen made the quick trip to neighboring Bethel College
to resume MCC play.
Buller’s words became prophetic.
After 40 minutes of a frenetic, physical affair at the Wiekamp
Center, it was Goshen (11-6, 4-1) that kept its stake near the top of
the MCC standings, winning an 80-75 decision over the Pilots that could
have gone either way down the stretch. Key defensive stops and good decisions
on offense helped the Leafs hang on to a slim lead for the final six minutes
of action, snapping a three-game losing skid in the process.
“This was an exciting win for us on the road in the conference,” said
Stan Daugherty, Goshen head coach. “As we always say, any win in
the league on the road is tough to earn, and this game was no
exception.”
The up-tempo pace looked to favor Bethel early on, as the Pilots
shot out to a 22-12 lead just nine minutes into the action. Bethel maintained
a reasonable gap through the first half’s six-minute mark, where
the Pilots led by a 30-22 count. Daugherty’s team responded with
an 18 to six run over the next five minutes, however, claiming a 40-36
lead following a made three-pointer by junior Matt Crawford. A Pilot jumper
and made free throw made it a 40-39 Leafs’ advantage at the half,
and Daugherty realized his team would be in for a second-half slugfest.
“We knew that it would be a physical game, particularly in the
paint,” Daugherty said. “Our guys were often undersized, but
we played hard and kept working inside to play defense and rebound.
We had good team balance and that was a key on the offensive end of the
floor.”
As the second half began, the intensity on both ends of the court
magnified. Five ties in the period’s first seven minutes eventually
led to a seven-point Bethel lead (58-51) with 11:37 remaining, but again
Daugherty’s squad remained poised. A nine to nothing Leafs’ run
returned Goshen to a 59-58 lead with 9:51 to play, and then the basket-trading
began: Big possessions led to eight lead changes in the game’s next
three minutes, with a Sam Boldman (freshman) layup giving Goshen a 67-66
lead with six minutes to go.
It would prove as the final lead change of the game.
Despite three turnovers in the game’s final three minutes — Goshen
committed 17 errors on the night — Daugherty’s team found
enough gas left to persevere, as Bethel’s late full-court press
was not enough to stop a hat trick of run out layups by senior
Eric Walsh. Goshen connected on three of its final four free throws to
help seal the
win, starting the 2006 portion of the MCC schedule off on the
right foot.
Walsh led all scorers with 19 points to go with seven rebounds,
four assists and four steals. Crawford added 16 points on seven of nine
shooting from the floor while sophomore Brice Hartman tallied 13 points
and six rebounds. Buller came up with 12 points and a game-high seven
assists, while Boldman may have been the most important piece of all:
With junior starting power forward Willie Frazier still not back to the
lineup with a recovering knee injury, Boldman stepped up to score seven
points and grab six rebounds — four of which came on the offensive
end — in just 17 minutes of play.
“We were able to spread the floor on them and drive to the basket,” Daugherty
said. “We didn't always finish inside because of their size, but
we kept attacking the basket enough to either score some baskets
or kick the ball out for some jump shots on the perimeter. I thought that
Sam
Boldman gave us a big lift off of the bench. He had four offensive
rebounds and helped give us some energy on the floor. I liked the way
we finished
the game by attacking the basket and getting some layups. We
had a couple of turnovers in the last few minutes, but we came back on
defense and
made some good plays. We are still not healthy with Willie being
out and Jordan fighting a muscle strain, so it made the win even more
important.”
Goshen connected on 32 of 66 shots for the contest (48.5 percent)
while Bethel knocked in 33 of 63 attempts (52.4 percent). With rebounds
being nearly identical — Bethel won the overall battle of the boards
by a 35-32 count and Goshen getting 13 offensive boards to the Pilots’ 12 — the
difference in the game came at the three-point arc and the free throw
line. Goshen made six of 20 from deep (30 percent) compared to Bethel’s
two of 10 effort (20 percent); the Leafs also made 10 of 13 charity tosses
(76.9 percent) while Bethel made just seven of 12 (58.3 percent).
“Coach has made it a point that we need to continue to get better
defensively,” Furman said. “We have to continue to do that
if we want to have a chance to continue to win in this conference.
Sam Boldman led us tonight in terms of exhausting himself. We’ll
need that kind of effort from all of our guys in the coming weeks.
It doesn’t get any easier.”
Goshen will return to the Roman Gingerich Center for the first
time in nearly a month on Saturday, when the nation’s third-ranked
team, Huntington University, comes to the Maple City. Game time
is set for 3 p.m. |
  Freshman
Sam Boldman
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