|
Men's Teams
Women's Teams
|
 |
|
|
Cougar Basketball Game Recap
Cougars Cruise to 103-63 Victory at Ohio
State-Marion
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game Boxscore
MARION, Ohio (12-29-2009) - After a sloppy
start to the game, the Mount Vernon Nazarene
University men’s basketball team got things
clicking as the Cougars pulled away for a
103-63 non-conference victory at Ohio State
University-Marion on Tuesday night.
Despite committing three turnovers and
missing its first five shots from the field,
MVNU (7-7) still led 8-2 on the strength of
four free throws and then back-to-back
layups by senior post Bryce Sanborn and
sophomore guard Robbie Taylor.
With the Cougars holding an 18-12 lead at
the 12:08 mark, the host Scarlet Wave (1-15)
rattled off eight straight points to take a
20-18 lead with 9:49 left in the half as
Marcel Jackson scored six quick points and
Tyrell Grant made a pair of free throws.
MVNU responded, though, by going on a 31-7
run over the next seven minutes that was
capped by a three-pointer by freshman guard
Ben Severns with 2:43 still to play before
the break as the Cougars built a 49-27 lead.
Senior wing Travis Brown led the surge with
seven points, while Severns and Taylor each
added six points apiece.
 Jackson
went 7-for-8 at the free throw line over the
remainder of the first half as Ohio
State-Marion was able to trim the lead to
53-36 at the break as MVNU went just 2-for-7
from the field and committed two turnovers.
Taylor, Brown, and junior guard Brandon
Short (left) each scored eight
points in the first half for the Cougars,
while Sanborn added seven points and Severns,
junior forward Adam Grimm, and senior wing
Austin Kaiser tallied six points apiece with
Kaiser grabbing 10 rebounds. MVNU shot 46.3
percent from the field (19-for-41), 27.3
percent from three-point range (3-for-11),
and 66.7 percent from the free throw line
(12-for-18). The Cougars did commit 14
first-half turnovers which helped allow the
Scarlet Wave to stay in the game.
Jackson led Ohio State-Marion with 19 points
for over half of the Scarlet Wave’s
first-half total. He did most of his damage
at the free throw line where he was 9-for-12
after going just 5-for-15 from the field
including 0-for-7 from three-point range.
Lathario Jones also contributed seven points
off the bench. Ohio State-Marion shot 30.6
percent from the field (11-for-36), 20
percent from three-point range (3-for-15),
and 68.8 percent from the free throw line
(11-for-16).
The second half was all MVNU as the Cougars
got their fastbreak going and took much
better care of the basketball. Over the
first seven minutes, MVNU used a 26-13 run
to extend the lead to 79-49 on Short’s
second dunk of the second half with 13:06
left in the game as the Cougars began to
work all their reserves into the game.
From that point on, the lead continued to
grow as the final score of 103-63 also
equaled the largest margin in the game as
every MVNU player who dressed saw at least
five minutes of action in the final period
and all but one player scored at least two
points in the game. The Cougars outscored
Ohio State-Marion 26-2 in the paint over the
final 20 minutes and held a 20-0 edge in
fastbreak points in the second half.
"This was a good team effort as we get back
into the swing of things,” said MVNU coach
Matt Moore of his team’s performance after
an 11-day layoff. "There were a lot of areas
we can nit-pick about that we didn’t do
well, but at the end of the day we pulled
out a road victory. I thought we settled
down in the second half and did a much
better job of defending the basketball.”
"We have a long way to go at both ends of
the floor if we expect to compete within the
conference, but I think our guys are
beginning to see the importance and urgency
of playing an entire 40 minutes collectively
and with a purpose,” Moore added. "We need
to get back into the conference hunt with a
great effort next week and that starts
tomorrow in practice.”
Short led five players in double figures for
MVNU with 22 points in only 19 minutes of
action, while Brown finished with 13 points.
Taylor and Severns tossed in 11 points
apiece with Taylor handing out a career-high
11 assists to go with four steals. Sanborn
added 10 points and seven rebounds, and
sophomore post Scott Hilbert chipped in with
nine points and a career-high five rebounds
off the bench. Kaiser and Grimm also scored
seven points each with Kaiser grabbing a
game- and career-high 11 rebounds. The
Cougars shot 52.2 percent from the field
(35-for-67), 33.3 percent from three-point
range (5-for-15), and 57.1 percent from the
free throw line (28-for-49). MVNU also
finished with a 59-41 rebounding advantage.
Jackson was the lone Scarlet Wave player to
reach double figures as he tossed in a
game-high 24 points to go with nine rebounds
and five steals, but he was just 1-for-12
from three-point range. Grant added nine
points and seven rebounds, and Jones
finished with seven points and eight
rebounds but was just 3-for-17 from the
field. Ohio State-Marion shot just 28
percent from the field overall (21-for-75),
27.8 percent from three-point range
(10-for-36), and 68.8 percent from the free
throw line (11-for-16) as they did not
attempt a free throw in the second half.
The Cougars will begin a big week of
conference action next Tuesday with a home
game against Wilberforce University at 7:30
p.m. to kick off a three-game American
Mideast Conference week that will also also
include road games on Thursday at the
University of Northwestern Ohio and on
Saturday at Daemen (N.Y.) College.
| |
|
|
Site Map
