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NOV.
10-11 — Goshen Collects Maple City Hoopfest Title
Leafs
get by Madonna, I.U.-South Bend for third tournament
title in four years |
(First
Round Box Score) (Championship Box
Score)
Goshen, IN — It was a good stretch for the Goshen College men’s
basketball program in more ways than one this weekend, as the team captured
the 2006 McDonald’s Maple City Hoopfest Title on Saturday after
receiving some great off-court news Friday afternoon.
In addition to knocking off Madonna University 77-62 in the
tournament’s first-round contest and dispatching Indiana University-South
Bend by a 77-65 score in Saturday’s championship game, Goshen
head coach Stan Daugherty announced that senior forward Willie Frazier
suffered only a sprained ankle against Ohio Dominican University Tuesday
night, and not a broken foot.
Frazier, who missed both Hoopfest contests with the injury,
landed awkwardly on his right foot during second-half play against ODU
and did not return in the contest (click here for related article).
Initial diagnosis was a severely sprained ankle, but subsequent swelling
on the top of Frazier’s foot prompted Goshen head athletic trainer
Linda Kaminskis to schedule x-rays on Wednesday. With the injury elevated
from a sprain to a potential season-ending break, Daugherty was rightfully
pessimistic.
Thankfully, it all turned out fine in the end.
“What a good couple of days this has been for our program,” Daugherty
said Saturday afternoon. “We had a couple big wins to win our
tournament, and we learned that Fraz should be out no longer
than a few more days to a couple weeks. I’m not a doctor, but
his foot did not look good on Wednesday. I was expecting it to be broken.”
Frazier’s x-rays came back negative and, perhaps spurred by the
welcoming news, Goshen’s play over the two-day tournament turned
out to be very positive. That trend started early Friday night, as Goshen
(3-1, 0-0) raced out to a 24-point first half lead and never looked
back.
After connecting on 54.5 percent of its tries from the floor
in the first period, a sluggish start to the second half looked to pull
Madonna back into things. The Crusaders cut a 46-24 Leafs’ halftime
lead to just 11 points — the score was 61-50 with 8:50 remaining — but
a 16 to three Goshen run over the next seven minutes sealed the deal
for Daugherty’s squad.
Madonna scored several moot baskets in
the game’s final minute and a half to make the final score 77-62
after Goshen held a 77-53 lead with 1:53 to play.
“I thought we had a good first half in that we ran well and
played with a lot of energy,” Daugherty said. “We gave up
some penetration in the second half and allowed Madonna some
easy baskets that got them going. We responded pretty well when they
cut into the
lead, and it was a good early-season win for our young team.”
Junior Brice Hartman led the way in Friday’s win, scoring a team-high
20 points on nine of 15 shooting. Freshman Errick McCollum added 18
points on an eight for 12 shooting effort, while seniors Matt Crawford
and David Haire chipped in 14 and 12, respectively.
Following Indiana University-South Bend’s 71-67 win over Taylor
University-Fort Wayne in Friday’s other semi-final match up, Daugherty
knew his team would have to play strong against a physically superior
I.U.S.B squad in Saturday’s championship. Featuring five seniors
and six juniors, the Titans appeared poised to run the Leafs
ragged, taking a 37-27 lead with just under three minutes to play in
the first
half.
Daugherty’s squad responded with a seven to nothing run
prior to the first-half buzzer, trailing only by a 39-34 score at the
half.
“We struggled early on with I.U.S.B.’s physical play and
it took us awhile to get into any kind of flow offensively,” Daugherty
said. “We made some good decisions with the ball late in the half
and were able to cut into the lead, when I felt like they were
really close to pulling ahead by 15 or 20.”
I.U.S.B. attempted to turn Daugherty’s premonition into reality
early on in the second period, as the Titans opened up their largest
lead of the game — 52-39 — with 16:07 remaining. It was
at that point that Goshen slowly began to whittle away at the lead,
trailing by just a 57-49 score with 8:43 to play.
A made layup from Hartman followed by a pair of free throws
from Crawford cut the lead to just four points, while a driving basket
from McCollum on Goshen’s next possession trimmed things to a
57-55 I.U.S.B. advantage.
As the teams began to trade baskets, it was Hartman that came
up with the biggest one, knocking in a three pointer with 3:30 to play,
giving Goshen a 61-59 advantage — the Leafs’ first lead
of the second half.
It was one the team would not relinquish.
A falling away jumper in the lane from Crawford on Goshen’s next
possession made a 63-59 contest. While the Titans would close the gap
to two points on two occasions, the Leafs remained calm and collected,
knocking in their final seven free throw attempts to preserve the win.
“I thought Saturday was a great win against a quality opponent,” Daugherty
said. “I really liked how we competed all day and hit some big
shots in the second half. We kept our composure when we got
down in the second half. Everyone contributed to the win, and that’s
important for a young team. We’re starting to see what we can
accomplish if we really come together.”
Hartman again led the scoring pace in the win, charting 21
points on seven of 15 shooting. McCollum scored 17 points and grabbed
a game-high nine rebounds, while Crawford scored 11 — all in the
second half of play.
Goshen benefited from an aggressive game plan on offense that
attacked I.U.S.B.’s physical nature on defense, getting to the
free throw line 25 times and making 20 of them (80 percent). The Titans
made just 13 trips to the free throw line, connecting on 12 (92.3 percent).
Both Hartman and McCollum were honored with McDonald’s Maple City
Hoopfest All-Tournament Team honors as a result of their performances.
I.U.S.B.’s Jeremy Herring and Desmond Favors also were selected,
along with Taylor-Fort Wayne’s Rich Thomas and Madonna’s
DJ Bridges.
The Hoopfest championship was Goshen’s third in the four-year
history of the event, as last year’s 73-84 loss to then 25th-ranked
Indiana University-Southeast still stands as the team’s lone loss
in Hoopfest history (click here for
article). Not including that loss, Goshen has averaged wins
by 23 points per game in the tournament’s
history.
Goshen will savor its most recent tournament championship only
briefly, as the team will return to competitive play Tuesday.
Goshen will travel to Davenport University for an 8 p.m. contest.
That is a change from
an original 7 p.m. start time.
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  Freshman
Errick McCollum
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