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Cougar Basketball Game Recap
Cougars' Rally Comes up Short in 63-59
Loss at Wilberforce
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game Boxscore
WILBERFORCE, Ohio (2-11-2010) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University men’s basketball
team rallied from a 19-point first-half
deficit to tie the score in the second half,
but the Cougars were never able to grab the
lead as MVNU fell 63-59 in American Mideast
Conference action at Wilberforce University
on Thursday night.
After MVNU (11-14, 3-9 AMC) scored the first
basket of the game on a jumper by senior
forward Kyle Harden, the two teams battled
to a 10-10 deadlock after the first five and
a half minutes.
With the host Bulldogs (9-16, 3-9 AMC)
holding a slim 16-14 advantage at the 12:08
mark, Wilberforce went on a 24-7 run over
the next 10 minutes to take a commanding
40-21 lead with just over two minutes
remaining in the half. Timothy Giles led the
way with eight points.
A jumper by senior wing Travis Brown and a
free throw by senior guard Jonathan Gurney
trimmed the deficit to 40-24 as the teams
went to the locker rooms at the break.
Senior post Bryce Sanborn came off the bench
to lead the Cougars with seven points in the
first half, while Harden and sophomore post
Jordan Heatherly added four points apiece.
MVNU shot 34.5 percent from the field
(10-for-29), missed all eight of its
three-point attempts, and went 4-for-7 at
the free throw line (57.1 percent).
Christopher Olafioye paced the Bulldogs with
11 points off the bench as he went 3-for-3
from three-point range. Giles added eight
points, and Cordell Hall grabbed eight
rebounds to go with six points. Wilberforce
shot 45.9 percent from the field
(17-for-37), 41.7 percent from three-point
range (5-for-12), and 50 percent at the free
throw line (1-for-2).
 With the Bulldogs holding a 42-26 advantage
just over a minute into the second half, the
Cougars began to mount their comeback. Over
the next 10 and a half minutes, MVNU used a
23-9 run to pull within 51-49 after a free
throw by sophomore guard Robbie Taylor with
8:36 to play. Taylor went 7-for-8 at the
free throw line during the run, while
freshman guard Ben Severns (left) came off the
bench to nail a trio of treys.
Wilberforce pushed its lead back out to
56-51 with 5:42 to play, but a three-point
play by Sanborn and a jumper by Taylor
knotted the score at 56-56 with 3:59 to go.
After the Bulldogs regained the lead 58-56
on a basket by Armond Darby at the 3:29
mark, Heatherly answered with a jumper to
tie the game at 58-58. He was also fouled on
the play, but he failed to connect on the
free throw that would have given MVNU its
first lead since the opening minute of the
game.
The Cougars missed their next three field
goal attempts and also committed two
turnovers as Wilberforce built a 61-58 lead
with 12 seconds left.
Sanborn had a chance to cut into the
deficit, but he missed a pair of free throws
with 11 seconds to go. Then, after the
Bulldogs failed to hit the front end of a
one-and-one free throw opportunity, Taylor
was fouled and hit his first free throw to
make the score 61-59 with 10 seconds left.
He then intentionally missed the second free
throw to try to give his team a chance at a
game-tying basket or potentially
game-winning three-pointer, but Taverius
Wilkins grabbed the rebound and then hit two
free throws with three seconds remaining to
give Wilberforce the 63-59 victory.
"You can’t win games in the first half of a
game, but you can sure lose one,” said MVNU
coach Matt Moore. "I thought we dug too big
of a hole in the first 20 minutes that
despite a great second-half run we didn’t
have enough left to finish. We knew that
rebounding and finishing plays would be two
key factors tonight, and although we gave a
great second-half effort, we didn’t get
enough of either one.”
"Our five seniors gave us great minutes
tonight and Ben was really the guy who got
us back in the game with his shooting,”
Moore continued. "At this point in the
season, all I can ask for is to have a
chance at the end of the game. These are
valuable learning opportunities for our
younger players to carry with them in the
off-season of what it takes to close out and
finish games.”
Taylor finished with 13 points and five
assists to lead the Cougars, while Sanborn
added 12 points and eight rebounds off the
bench. Severns also scored 11 points off the
bench and went 3-for-6 from three-point
range, and senior guard Austin Kaiser dished
out six assists to go with five steals. MVNU
shot 36.2 percent from the field
(21-for-58), 18.8 percent from three-point
range (3-for-16), and 56 percent from the
free throw line (14-for-25).
Olafioye led Wilberforce with 13 points,
while Darby and Giles added 10 points
apiece. Hall also grabbed a game-high 16
rebounds. The Bulldogs shot 39.7 percent
from the field (25-for-63), 37.5 percent
from three-point range (6-for-16), and 53.8
percent from the free throw line (7-for-13).
The Cougars will return to action on
Saturday when MVNU will travel to Cedarville
University for another AMC contest that will
tip off at 7:30 p.m.
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