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NOV.
9 — Leafs Stay Up Late To Take Care Of PNC, 74-67
Strong
run in second half gives Goshen first road win of season
in first attempt |
Michigan City, IN — The ESPN2 cameras
were absent, but Wednesday night’s tip-off between Goshen and Purdue
University-North Central certainly would have fit the network’s
late night time slot.
Traveling to play its first road contest of the season in a 9
p.m. Eastern Standard Time start, the Goshen College men’s basketball
team put together a solid 74-67 win over a rapidly improving PNC squad.
Serving as the Panthers’ home opener, Goshen (3-1, 0-0) hung tough
through everything PNC could throw at them, eventually taking a 12-point
lead in the second half in rolling to its second straight victory.
“This was a good win for us,” said Stan Daugherty, Goshen
head coach. “It
was our first opportunity on the road this season against a much-improved
PNC team. I liked the way we battled through much of the game.
We had stretches where we didn’t play well offensively, but we seemed
to hang in there and made some plays in the second half.”
It appeared as if Daugherty’s team was past its collective bedtime
at the game’s outset, as Goshen needed the game’s first four
minutes to score its first points, falling behind by a 9-2 score with
16:21 to play in the first half. The Leafs then began to awaken, taking
their first lead at the 7:57 mark (21-19) and stretching the advantage
to six points (29-23) with 3:56 to play. Purdue North Central answered
with a seven to three run to conclude the period, however, sending Daugherty’s
squad into the locker room at halftime in a 30-30 deadlock.
The start of the second period was much like the first for the
Leafs, as the team turned the ball over on its first two possessions
before trailing 30-34. Again, however, Daugherty’s team shored up
its play on both ends, putting a 19 to five run on the Panthers
in a span of six
and a half minutes to take a 57-45 lead with 8:09 remaining in
the game. Senior Jordan Buller’s steal and layup at the 13:19 mark
ignited the run, as Goshen never trailed following that basket.
“Once we got a lead in the second half, our basketball I.Q. was
pretty good,” Daugherty said. “We missed some open shots,
but for the most part we made good decisions on offense and continued
to give solid effort defensively.”
Goshen was only able to convert on four of 21 attempts from behind
the three-point arc (19 percent), with most misses coming on wide-open
looks. Still, the Leafs’ dominant 22 for 31 effort from the free throw
line (PNC connected on nine of 13 attempts) gave the team all the breathing
room it would need.
“I thought we were aggressive on the offensive end of the floor
and that allowed us to get to the free throw line more than PNC,” Daugherty
said. “In the end, that was the difference in the game.”
While pleased with the result, Daugherty noted several areas
that his team must improve on, most notably the commitment of 16 turnovers
and the allowance of PNC to shoot 26 of 54 from the field for the contest
(48.1 percent).
“We have to continue to improve our ball handling as we lost several
opportunities to get good shots because we fumbled or dropped
the ball, many of which came on the right decisions,” Daugherty
said. “Defensively,
we played hard for the entire game but we must continue to improve
in contesting shots. Right now, our recognition of who is hot from the
field
is not very good. We have to pick up on that during a game and
make better adjustments to shut down that player in the course of the
game.”
Senior Eric Walsh led the Leafs’ scoring efforts, charting 25 points
on 10 of 16 shoooting from the field. Buller aided the efforts with 18
points on seven of 13 shooting, while junior Willie Frazier tallied seven
points to go with a game-high 13 rebounds.
The win did come with a cost, as Walsh landed awkwardly on his
right ankle midway through the second half. He also re-injured a nagging
hamstring injury, causing his status to be uncertain for Goshen’s
next contest.
The team will not have long to prepare for that game, as Davenport
University will visit the Roman Gingerich Center on Saturday. Game time
is set for 3 p.m. |
Senior
Jordan Buller
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