| (Box Score) Goshen, IN — Prior to Saturday’s Mid-Central Conference tilt with Spring Arbor University, Goshen head coach Stan Daugherty said he refrained from uttering the phrase “must win” to his team.
“Very important” and “urgent” may have been used, however.
Goshen (11-13, 3-7) responded by knocking in 63.6 percent of its shots from the field — the program’s most efficient shooting clip since the 2003-2004 season — in handing the visiting Cougars an 85-75 defeat, drastically improving the Leafs’ positioning within the MCC standings. With the win, Goshen leapt to seventh place in the conference, possessing a tie-breaker over Spring Arbor and sitting just a game out of sixth place and a game and a half out of fifth. Heading into Saturday the Leafs were just a half game better than ninth place within the league standings.
“There’s obviously a lot of basketball yet to be played (this season), but we all understood the importance of this game (beforehand),” Daugherty said. “There’s no sense of desperation until you’re next game is not guaranteed, but we approached this game as a key one for us. We came out focused and seemed to have more energy than in our last few games, and obviously we shot the ball extremely well.”
Perhaps understating the point, the Leafs shot the ball better than any contest in the last three seasons. Not since a 103-74 win over Wright State Lake University on Nov. 19, 2003 has a Goshen team performed with such efficiency, as Daugherty’s team connected on a total 28 of 44 shots on Saturday. The Leafs’ win over the Lakers in ’03 was slightly better mathematically (Goshen made 36 of 54 total shots, 66.7 percent), but it paled in level of importance: Saturday’s game marked the first time a Goshen squad shot better than 60 percent in an MCC competition since the arrival of Daugherty in 2001-2002.
The shooting touch didn’t take long for Goshen to find, as junior Brice Hartman connected on a put-back tip-in following a pair of misses on the team’s opening possession.
The Leafs made their next 12 shots from the floor, finally missing an attempt with 10:12 remaining in the first half. A 29-14 lead was generated as a result.
Spring Arbor weathered the storm and pulled to within a nine-point difference (33-24) with 7:54 to play in the first period, but a strong Goshen surge to conclude the half made it a 49-33 contest at the intermission. Daugherty’s team made an incredible 20 of 29 shots from the field in the first 20 minutes of play (69 percent).
“Our ball movement was really good early on and that resulted in some open shots,” Daugherty said. “We devote a lot of time shooting game-like shots in practice, but you’re usually not going to be quite that good. We knew that we most likely couldn’t carry over shooting the ball that well in the second half, but we wanted to maintain our energy.”
Daugherty also implored his team to get better on the boards, as Goshen gave up 12 first-half offensive boards that led to 10 second-chance points for the Cougars.
As expected, Goshen returned to a level of normalcy shooting the ball in the second half (eight of 15 from the field, 53.3 percent), and Spring Arbor was able to — again — whittle away at the lead. The Cougars cut the lead to nine points (52-43) with 15:22 remaining, but Goshen had it back to a 66-54 lead with 9:09 to play.
It was then that Spring Arbor made its most serious move.
A 12 to three Cougars’ run over the game’s next four minutes cut the Goshen lead to just 69-66 with 4:52 on the clock, and it appeared that the game was up for grabs.
Freshman Errick McCollum found senior Willie Frazier on the baseline for a power layup on Goshen’s next possession, and following a needed defensive stop, senior David Haire took a McCollum pass and drained a three pointer fading to his left.
With a 74-66 lead restored, Goshen would not look back. The Leafs would drain nine of their final 10 free throws, keeping the Cougars from making any serious push down the stretch.
“I think we showed some pretty good poise at a time when it would have been really easy to hit the panic button,” Daugherty said. “We talked a lot about the fact that we knew Spring Arbor would make a run. Good teams always do. But we wanted to be sure we put an end to it, and we were able to. I liked how we finished the game. We’re starting to show some maturity.”
McCollum had perhaps his finest effort as a collegian, scoring 31 points on nine of 13 shooting from the floor and a 12 for 13 effort from the free throw line. He also grabbed six rebounds, recorded a block and a pair of steals, and dished out nine assists to just one turnover.
“Errick McCollum deserves a lot of credit for his game today,” Daugherty said. “He defended (Spring Arbor’s Darby) Decker very well, and his nine assists to one turnover may be what I’m most impressed with. He’s learning the balance between knowing when to find people for shots and still looking to score. He played with a purpose and focus today and really got others involved.”
Frazier was a beneficiary of McCollum’s orchestrating, as the senior finished with 14 points and seven rebounds — making eight of 10 free throws. Hartman added 13 points shooting five of 10 from the field, while senior Matt Crawford scored 12 points on a five for seven effort, all coming in the first half of play. Haire added nine points, going a perfect three for three from behind the arc.
Goshen’s hot shooting was able to make up for a monstrous difference in total shots attempted, as Spring Arbor’s 19 offensive boards and 12 forced turnovers helped them to 28 more shots from the field than the Leafs. Goshen did get to the free throw line 13 more times than its opponent, however, making an impressive 22 freebies (88 percent).
“This was certainly a good win for us, as any win in the MCC is going to be,” Daugherty said. “Now we must get ready to play a very good St. Francis team next. As always, we’ll look to bring our very best effort.”
Goshen will travel to Fort Wayne on Tuesday to face the 20th-ranked University of St. Francis. Game time is set for approximately 7 p.m.
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Freshman Errick McCollum