DEC. 12 — Goshen men suffer tough loss on the road at the University of Northwestern Ohio

LIMA, Ohio – Facing its first opponent since Dec. 1, the Goshen College Men’s Basketball team was looking to keep their seven-game winning streak alive when they took on the University of Northwestern Ohio (UNOH) Racers on Dec. 12. However, the Racers came out looking to avenge their loss from earlier this season when Goshen used a last second three-pointer to seal the win. This combined with a raucous home crowd, made things very difficult for the Leafs as UNOH came out on top, 80-67.

Getting off to a slow start, the Leafs quickly found themselves in a 9-4 hole only five minutes into the game. The Racers managed to maintain a high level of offensive pressure on Goshen, and were able to go on several small runs to build their lead to 28-10 with five minutes remaining in the half.

From this point, UNOH increased their lead to 31 points by jumping to a 49-18 advantage. Goshen was able to make up some ground before the end of the half by adding six points to the board before going into the intermission being down 49-24.

First half stats show that the Racers connected on 64.3 percent of field goal attempts, which essentially doubled Goshen’s field goal percentage of 31 percent. Another key stat came from the free-throw line. Entering the game ranked fourth in the NAIA in free-throw percentage, Goshen’s first half performance from the line did not live up to its billing as they went 3-10, shooting only 30 percent. The Racers turned in an 11-11 performance from the free-throw line, which turned out to be a large share of their lead at the half.

About Goshen’s first-half performance, Coach Gary Chupp said, “We ran into a buzz saw at UNOH. Having beaten them at the buzzer a couple weeks ago at our place, I knew they were going to give us their best shot and they took it to us in the first half, shooting 64 percent from the field compared to our 31 percent. Part of them shooting as well as they did was our lack of defensive intensity, but to give credit where credit is due, they played outstanding basketball the first 20 minutes. Conversely, I thought we were getting pretty good looks on the offensive end, but couldn't buy a basket. Entering the game with the fourth best free throw percentage in the country, we were 3-10 in the first half. Everything that could go wrong did.”

Looking to rebound, the Leafs came out strong in the second half and turned up the defensive pressure to keep UNOH shooters at bay and cooling them off to shooting 36.4 percent from the field. By locking down on defense, Goshen was able to take advantage of turnovers and improved shooting to cut the deficit to as little as 10 points.

Though the Leafs were able to outscore UNOH by a 43-31 margin, the Racers made it very difficult for them to get back in the game. One thing that aided the Racers was their free-throw shooting. Though they only shot 63.6 percent, they had 22 attempts and made 14. This helped them stay on top as Goshen was pushing hard in the second half to climb back into the game.

Despite the tough loss, Coach Chupp mentioned that there were a lot of positives the team can take from this experience, saying, “Playing in a very hostile environment and down 25 at the break, our kids showed a lot of heart in the second half.” Coach Chupp then added, "The positive aspect is that this was not a conference game, and if we can learn from it – it will make us better as we gear up for conference play after Christmas. We are going to play in some very difficult venues in the MCC, and there will be nights where a team gets on a roll like UNOH did. When things are not going well, we have to figure out how to manufacture some baskets and get some defensive stops to stay within striking distance.”

Another positive aspect of the game for the Leafs was the performance of sophomore Errick McCollum, who continued his impressive season by leading all scorers with 30 points. McCollum also tied Jason Sarno of UNOH as the overall leader in rebounds with 10, and giving him a double-double for the game.

Also of note were the performances of senior Brice Hartman and sophomore Nate West, who both contributed 11 points.

Next up for the Leafs is another tough test against Cornerstone University. Coach Chupp is looking forward to the matchup as a chance to get past the UNOH loss, “Cornerstone, who made it to the elite 8 of the NAIA National Tournament a year ago, comes to our place on Saturday. We will have a chance to get this taste out of our mouth, but we also realize that we will have
to put together 40 minutes of inspired basketball to get the job done."

The Golden Eagles will be coming to the Goshen College Gingerich Recreation-Fitness Center this Saturday, Dec. 15 to face the Maple Leafs, who are now 10-2. Game time is set for 3 p.m.

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Sophomore Nate West