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Cougar Basketball Game Recap
MVNU Makes Plays Down the Stretch to Beat
Falcons 90-87
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game Boxscore
TEMPLE TERRACE, Fla. (12-17-2009) - The
Mount Vernon Nazarene University men’s
basketball team made the plays when it
mattered the most as the Cougars pulled out
a hard-fought 90-87 win at Florida College
on Thursday night in Conn Gymnasium.
The game went back and forth over the first
10 and a half minutes with five ties and
five lead changes with the score knotted at
22-22 with 9:32 left before the break.
Then, a 13-5 run by the host Falcons (6-6)
gave Florida College its biggest lead of the
game at 35-27 with 6:19 remaining in the
half. Jordan Mitchell led the way with 10
points that included a pair of
three-pointers, while Jesse Hartings also
drained a trey.
The Cougars (6-6) pulled within 37-36 with
2:13 left before the break on a
three-pointer by freshman guard Ben Severns,
and MVNU went to the locker room trailing
just 42-40.
Senior post Bryce Sanborn and junior guard
Brandon Short each tossed in eight points in
the first half with Sanborn grabbing seven
rebounds to lead the Cougars. Senior wing
Travis Brown and senior forward Kyle Harden
also added seven points apiece. MVNU shot
38.7 percent from the field (12-for-31),
27.3 percent from three-point range
(3-for-11), and 65 percent from the free
throw line (13-for-20). The Cougars
committed 15 turnovers, but Florida College
only managed to score five points off those
turnovers.
Mitchell paced the Falcons with 12
first-half points, while Blake Elrod scored
nine points and grabbed four rebounds.
Florida College shot 39.5 percent from the
field (17-for-43), 35.7 percent from
three-point range (5-for-14), and 60 percent
from the free throw line (3-for-5).
The first four minutes of the second half
saw three lead changes and three ties with
the score knotted at 48-48. Then, MVNU went
on a 12-1 run over the next seven minutes to
take a 60-49 advantage with 10:57 to play.
Severns led the way with five points during
the surge.
However, the Falcons would not go away as
they scrapped their way back to within 64-63
with 7:50 left in the game on the strength
of a 14-4 run.
The Cougars answered with seven straight
points, though, to push their lead back to
71-63 over the next minute as Brown scored
five points and sophomore guard Robbie
Taylor added a basket.
With MVNU leading 75-67, Hartings scored
five points, Colin Houston went 1-for-2 at
the free throw line, and Charles Murphy
nailed a pair of free throws to knot the
score at 75-75 with 3:05 to go.
Severns got the Cougars going again as he
hit three-pointers on back-to-back
possessions to MVNU back on top 81-77 with
2:08 left.
From that point on, the Cougars were able to
hold at least a two-point lead the rest of
the way as MVNU went 7-for-8 at the free
throw line down the stretch to hold on for
the 90-87 victory. The only miss came with
0.9 seconds left and a potential full-court,
game-tying heave by the Falcons hit the
ceiling at midcourt as the final buzzer
sounded.
"Tonight was a fun game to be a part of,”
said MVNU coach Matt Moore. "Although we had
a lot of turnovers and the pace was
extremely fast, I thought our kids showed a
lot of courage and fight when (Florida
College) made their runs.
"Ben’s two threes were daggers and really
gave us some breathing room,” Moore added.
"I am proud of the collective effort and I
am glad that we were able to give Austin
(Kaiser) a break tonight because we will
need him at full strength tomorrow.”
Sanborn finished with 19 points and 14
rebounds to lead the Cougars, while Severns
poured in a career-high 18 points off the
bench as he went 4-for-6 from three-point
range. Short contributed 16 points, seven
rebounds, and five steals, and Brown added
15 points. Taylor also contributed 12 points
and six assists, while sophomore forward
Jordan Heatherly registered five blocks and
10 rebounds. MVNU shot 47.5 percent for the
game (28-for-59) including 35.3 percent from
three-point range (6-for-17) and 62.2
percent from the free throw line
(28-for-45).
Hastings finished with a game-high 22 points
to lead Florida College, while Mitchell
added 16 points. Houston and Elrod tallied
11 points apiece, and Justin Mitchell scored
10 points off the bench. The Falcons shot
42.1 percent from the field (32-for-76),
23.8 percent from three-point range
(5-for-21), and 66.7 percent from the free
throw line (18-for-27).
The Cougars will be right back in action on
Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at NAIA Division
II No. 16 Warner (Fla.) University to close
out the team’s brief two-game Florida trip.
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