| (Box Score) Goshen, IN — The Goshen College men’s basketball squad chose an ill-advised time to have its worst offensive performance in recent memory on Saturday, making just 15 baskets in a 41-64 loss to 10th-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University in the Roman Gingerich Center.
Goshen (9-13, 2-7) made just 15 of 52 shots from the floor in the defeat — a 28.8 percent shooting clip — the program’s lowest marks in three seasons. Not since a 34-73 loss at NCAA Division II Grand Valley State University on Jan. 1, 2005 (click here for related article) has a Goshen team performed so poorly statistically, as the Leafs made just 13 of 48 field goals in that defeat (27.1 percent).
“What we witnessed today was a combination of us not being very sharp and Indiana Wesleyan being very, very solid on the defensive end of the court,” said Cory Furman, Goshen assistant coach. “Coach Daugherty said it best afterwards in that Indiana Wesleyan is a vastly improved team defensively. They are awfully good scoring the ball, but you have to give credit to Coach (Greg) Tonagel and his staff for how they defended today. Needless to say, they made it tough on us.”
A grind-it-out environment was established early Saturday, as a jumper from junior Brice Hartman gave Goshen a one-point lead with 11:04 remaining, in a 9-8 score. The Wildcats then went on a mini-run, scoring the game’s next seven points to open up a 15-9 lead with 8:28 to play in the period. An interior bucket from senior Willie Frazier and a three pointer from freshman Nate West closed the gap to 15-14, however, and it appeared Goshen was in form to trade punches with the Mid-Central Conference co-leaders.
It was at that point that the basket — on Goshen’s end, anyway — began to get dramatically smaller.
The Leafs made just one of their final eight attempts from the field, as Indiana Wesleyan raced off to a 17 to two run over the final 7:21 of the half. The Wildcats drained eight of their final 10 shots from the floor, as only a late three pointer from senior David Haire could stop the bleeding. Goshen went into the locker room trailing by a 19-32 deficit.
“That run late in the first half was really deflating to us,” Furman said. “It was fortunate that halftime got in the way, because we were able to at least regroup and talk about some things. Our point at halftime was to try to continue to compete, even when scoring wasn’t coming easily or we had missed some shots.”
For the first part of the second period, Goshen attempted to do just that.
An early eight to four Wesleyan run was answered by a quick, six to nothing burst from Goshen, turning a 17-point deficit into a 29-40 margin with 14:06 to play. At the 11:20 mark of the period, Wesleyan’s lead remained at 13 points (47-34), but again the Leafs’ offensive woes would put a staple on the outcome. Goshen would make just two of its final 14 shots in the game’s last 11 minutes, helping the Wildcats continue to build on its growing lead. An inside basket from freshman Caleb Kitchell with a minute remaining cut the IWU lead to the final 23-point margin, just two points off the visitors’ largest lead of the afternoon.
“As the game wore on, we began to get some wide-open looks,” Furman said. “It’s my belief, however, that after you’re defended as well as we were for most of the day, even wide-open shots become tougher. You put some undo pressure on yourself, and you wind up missing.”
Freshman Errick McCollum was the lone scorer in double figures for Goshen, charting a game-high 16 points on a seven for 15 effort from the floor. Frazier and Hartman added six points and five rebounds each, while West scored four points and Haire three.
Saturday’s game shares a variety of links to the aforementioned Grand Valley State loss, as Goshen made the fewest baskets from the field, had the lowest shooting percentage and scored the fewest points since that defeat. Saturday’s tilt was also the first time that Goshen failed to post more than one player in double-figure scoring since dropping its New Year’s Day contest to the Lakers.
“It’s certainly not fun to play the way we did today, but if you’re any competitor at all, you relish the chance to get after it again,” Furman said. “What we can do, and have to do now, is give it our best shot the next time we step on the court.”
Due to the Leafs’ bye date in MCC play on Tuesday, that opportunity will happen drastically quicker than usual, as Goshen will travel to Richmond, Indiana on Sunday to face off against Indiana University-East. Game time is set for 2 p.m.
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Freshman Errick McCollum