After five disappointing road losses, however, Daugherty’s squad was finally able to persevere on a scoreboard other than those hanging in the Roman Gingerich Center.

Goshen (4-6, 1-1) slipped past Spring Arbor University Saturday afternoon in an 80-76 decision, giving the Leafs their first road and Mid-Central Conference win of the season while snapping a five-game losing streak in the process. Goshen allowed a 17-point first-half lead to dissipate, but stood strong down the stretch to weather a late Spring Arbor run and pull away for the tight-knit win.

For Daugherty, it was a sign that his young team was maturing.

“This was a big win for us on the road and in the MCC,” Daugherty said. “We had lost four tough, close games on the road and hopefully we learned some lessons that helped us win this game. We will take this experience just like the others, though, and we’ll look to continue to improve as we get into the thick of the conference in January and February.”

Saturday’s showdown with the Cougars was virtually a carbon copy of the Leafs’ last two contests, as again Goshen raced off to an early lead. Daugherty’s team knocked in its first nine field goal attempts and 11 of its first 13 shots to explode to a 27-10 lead just eight minutes into the action.

With a 17-point lead in hand, however, Goshen again saw its advantage slowly dwindle. As was the case in its previous two losses, the Leafs allowed a substantial lead to turn into a deficit. After a 44-41 Goshen lead at halftime Saturday, Spring Arbor eventually pushed to a 56-48 lead in the second half.

It seemed all too familiar to Daugherty and staff, as Goshen claimed an early 13-point lead against Calumet College on Nov. 27 (click here for related article) and a 15-point lead against Bluffton University on Nov. 24 (click here for article) — both games resulting in narrow Goshen losses.

Saturday, however, was different.

Playing perhaps his best game of the season, freshman Nate West gave the Leafs a huge boost off the bench. A three-ball from West at the game’s 12:47 mark and a pair of free throws on Goshen’s next possession cut the Spring Arbor lead to just three, and the momentum began to shift.

Junior Brice Hartman took a pass from West and scored on the Leafs’ next offensive possession, and was fouled on the possession thereafter. When senior Matt Crawford buried a three pointer on Goshen’s next trip down the floor, the game was tied at 60-60 with 8:44 remaining.

Following a made basket by the Cougars, it was sophomore Sam Boldman that came up big, knocking in a three pointer from the corner to give Goshen a 63-62 lead with 8:07 to play.

While Spring Arbor would tie the score twice in the contest’s final eight minutes, it would never capture another lead.

A monstrous offensive rebound from West and subsequent foul and made free throws erased a 71-71 tie at the game’s 3:27 mark, while a bucket from senior Willie Frazier made the score 75-71, Goshen, with 1:44 to play. West created a steal on Spring Arbor’s next trip, and made free throws sealed the deal for the Leafs: With the Cougars forced to foul, Goshen knocked in five of its final six charity attempts to secure the coveted conference road win.

“(Over the past week) we had talked a lot about how college basketball usually works,” said Cory Furman, Goshen assistant coach. “Against Bluffton and Calumet, we had a collective attitude of panic mixed with anger when we let our leads slip away. But when you’re playing good competition, early leads usually don’t last until the very end. That’s just college basketball. That’s the shot clock. It’s a game of runs. Sure, we’d love to take a 15-point lead and keep building on it, but in this league and on the road, it’s typically going to be how you finish close games. I think we better understood that Saturday, and our play reflected that late.”

Goshen placed five players in double-figure scoring for the first time of the season against Spring Arbor, with Hartman leading the charge scoring 18 on six of 12 shooting. Freshman Errick McCollum added 17 on a seven of 12 shooting effort, while West scored 14 and grabbed nine boards in a tremendous off-the-bench performance. Senior David Haire scored 12 points, while Crawford tallied 10 on a four for eight shooting effort.

The Leafs hung onto the win despite allowing Spring Arbor to connect on 32 of 61 total shots (52.5 percent), thanks largely to a 11 for 24 effort from the three-point line (45.8 percent) and a 15 of 19 effort from the free throw line (78.9 percent). Goshen also dished out 13 assists, marking just the second time of the young season that the squad produced more helpers than errors (the Leafs had eight turnovers Saturday).

“I thought we shared the ball well and that allowed us to have five players in double figures,” Daugherty said. “We had more assists than turnovers and that has been a problem for us on the road. I thought the best part of the game for us was when we got down in the second half we persevered and fought back to win the game. We had a bad stretch in the second half, but we seemed to calm down after the timeout and made some good adjustments to finish the game. We had some good contributions off of the bench, particularly Nate West. He was good on the boards and played within himself on the offensive end of the floor.”

Goshen is rewarded only partially following its win Saturday, as the team will next return to the Roman Gingerich Center for its only home contest in the month of December on Tuesday. The Leafs will face a serious test, however, as MCC foe and 20th-ranked University of St. Francis visits the Maple City averaging 92.1 points per game and five players scoring in double figures. Game time is set for 7 p.m.