| (Box Score) Fort Wayne, IN — Coming into Tuesday’s showdown at 20th-ranked University of St. Francis, the Goshen College men’s basketball team ranked 15th in the nation in free throw shooting percentage.
Freshman Errick McCollum was the 50th best free throw shooter in the country, by percentage.
Perhaps the baskets at USF’s Hutzell Athletic Center need to be checked.
Goshen (11-14, 3-8) could convert on just 12 of 24 free throws Tuesday night — including a horrid, six of 15 performance in the second half — in spoiling what otherwise was a tremendous comeback against a red-hot St. Francis team. After falling behind by a 30-44 score at halftime and trailing by 19 points early in the second half, Goshen pulled within four points on four occasions down the stretch, only to suffer its worst second-half performance from the free throw line on the season. With a chance to cut the host Cougars’ lead on multiple occasions, Goshen made just one of its final six free throws in the game’s last two minutes, eventually falling by a 79-85 final.
“Obviously, the area that hurt us tonight was our free throw shooting,” said Stan Daugherty, Goshen head coach. “If we had our normal shooting percentage, I think the game would have come down to a one-possession game at the end. We could just never hit our free throws to cut the lead to two or three in the final few minutes. I was really proud of our effort, but we just don’t have much room for error against a team like St. Francis. When we have a chance to make free throws in a close game like this, it’s important to do so.”
It appeared that a close game was anything but probable early, as St. Francis looked primed to run away with its fourth consecutive win. A 14-14 score with 12:42 remaining in the first half ballooned to a 33-14 St. Francis lead with 5:41 remaining, as Goshen missed nine straight shots and committed three turnovers during the stretch. A three pointer from McCollum stopped the hemorrhage at the half’s 5:18 mark, but the Cougars continued strong play through intermission, leading by a 44-30 margin at the break.
That push spilled into the start of the second period, where St. Francis rattled off six of the half’s first seven points to grab a 50-31 lead with 16:56 to play. It was then that Daugherty’s team slowly began to chip away at the lead, turning a 57-40 deficit with 12:51 remaining into a 57-51 contest with 10:01 to play. Junior Brice Hartman scored seven of the Leafs’ 11 points during that stretch, and Daugherty said that confidence began to grow on his team’s bench.
“This game was like two games in one, really,” Daugherty said. “The first half I thought we were a little tentative on both ends of the floor. USF took the ball inside and scored easily. We settled for a lot of jump shots on offense and were not aggressive getting the ball to the basket. We just seemed sluggish in a lot of areas. The second half we played much better, particularly in the last 15 minutes. We defended better and we played with a purpose on offense.”
Sensing a change in the tide, the Leafs began to get big shots from a variety of places. Sophomore Sam Boldman and freshman Nate West each cashed in three pointers to cut the USF lead to 62-57, and with 5:27 remaining on the clock it was just a 70-65 Cougar lead.
It was then that free throws became anything but free for Goshen.
McCollum made just one of two freebies to pull his team to a 70-66 deficit. Trailing 74-69, McCollum made one of two charity tosses again, making it a 74-70 contest.
Looking to cut the lead even deeper, Daugherty’s team went stone cold from the line. Goshen missed its next five free throw attempts, while St. Francis was doing just the opposite: The Cougars made 21 of its 25 free throws on the night, including an 18 for 21 performance in the second half.
St. Francis’ All-American candidate, senior Mike Campbell, entered the game shooting just 43.5 percent from the free throw line. He made six of seven Tuesday night, all in the second half of play.
“I asked (St. Francis head coach) Jeff Rekeweg what he did to Campbell to get him to shoot his free throws so well,” said Cory Furman, Goshen assistant coach. “He told me, ‘The same thing I did to make you guys miss 12 of 24.’ It was just one of those nights where you don’t have an answer for why.”
Goshen had the lead trimmed to 80-76 with 50 seconds to play, but St. Francis finished by making its final six free throws during that time, holding off every push Daugherty’s team could make.
For just the second time of the season, Goshen shot three pointers better than it did free throws, making 13 of 24 from long range (54.2 percent). McCollum and Hartman led Goshen’s offensive efforts, each pouring in 26 points. Hartman scored 19 of his points in the final 20 minutes of play. Senior David Haire scored nine total, while classmate Matt Crawford added eight.
McCollum made just seven of 12 charity tosses, a percentage (58.3 percent) well below his season average of 81.2 percent. As a team, the Leafs were far worse than their usual 74 percent clip, a mark that had the squad ranked 15th best in the country at the NAIA Division II level.
With the win, St. Francis made it four straight, a stretch that included wins over then 25th-ranked Grace College and then 5th-ranked Huntington University.
“I was proud of our effort in the second half,” Daugherty said. “We played smart and hard and put ourselves in a position to win. Brice Hartman really stepped up in the second half and was aggressive at both ends of the floor. When he scores inside and outside he gives us another dimension on offense that is hard for teams to guard. We need to learn from this game the importance of focus and effort for a full game. We cannot get down to teams in our conference early in the game.”
Goshen will now prepare for another monumental Mid-Central Conference contest, as arch-rival Bethel College will visit the Roman Gingerich Center on Saturday. Game time is set for 3 p.m.
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Junior Brice Hartman