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Cougar Basketball Game Recap
Sharp-Shooting Cougars Down Akron-Wayne
89-72
written by Dave Parsons, Sports Information Director
Game Boxscore
ORRVILLE, Ohio (12-28-2011) - The Mount
Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball
team shot a blistering 62.5 percent from the
field including 17-for-23 in the second half
(73.9 percent) as the Cougars posted an
89-72 non-conference victory at the
University of Akron-Wayne College on
Wednesday night.
 MVNU
(6-8) jumped out to a quick 17-6 lead over
the first 4:15 as the Cougars went 6-for-6
from the field including a trio of
3-pointers and a layup all from sophomore
post Caleb Williams (left)
as he scored 11 early points.
Then,
MVNU missed three of its next four shots and
committed four turnovers as the host
Warriors (9-8) closed the gap to 19-18 with
12:48 left in the half. Following a basket
by junior guard Ben Severns, Akron-Wayne
knotted the score at 21-21 on a trey by
Andrew Lowe with 11:45 remaining before the
break.
With the Cougars holding a
slim 34-31 advantage with 3:47 to go before
the half, MVNU went on a 9-2 run to take a
43-33 lead to the locker room at the break.
Senior guard Robbie Taylor fueled the surge
with five points.
Williams paced the
Cougars with 13 points and six rebounds in
the first half, while Taylor added 12
points. Severns also chipped in with eight
points. MVNU shot 54.5 percent from the
field (18-for-33) and 63.6 percent from
3-point range. The Cougars did not attempt a
free throw in the first half, but MVNU did
post a 24-12 rebounding advantage.
Deshon Hudson led the Warriors with 18
first-half points. Akron-Wayne shot 37.5
percent from the field (12-for-32), 25
percent from 3-point range (3-for-12), and
85.7 percent from the free throw line
(6-for-7).
The Cougars kept their
momentum going to start the second half as
MVNU used a 12-2 run to extend the lead to
55-35 just four minutes into the final
period.
However, the Warriors did not
give in and battled back to trim the lead to
57-46 with 10:44 still on the clock as
Hudson fueled the comeback with nine points.
The Cougars responded, though, as
Williams scored seven of the team's next 12
points on a 3-pointer, a layup, and a dunk
as MVNU extended its lead back out to 69-48
with 8:22 left.
From there, the lead
grew to as much as 74-51 before the Cougars
settled for the 89-72 victory.
 Taylor
(right) led MVNU
with 26 points and six assists, while
Williams filled out the stat sheet with 20
points, nine rebounds, six blocked shots,
and four assists. He also went 4-for-4 from
beyond the 3-point arc. Severns added 15
points, and senior post Danil Zakhlebnyy,
junior post Zach Zeltman, and sophomore wing
Austin Semple tossed in seven points apiece
with Zeltman grabbing a game-high 10
rebounds and Semple adding nine boards. The
Cougars shot 62.5 percent from the field
(35-for-56), 55.6 percent from 3-point range
(10-for-18), and 75 percent from the free
throw line (9-for-12). MVNU also
out-rebounded Akron-Wayne 44-30.
Hudson led all scorers with 33 points for
the Warriors, while Drew Moss added 16
points. Andrew Lowe also chipped in with 10
points. Akron-Wayne shot 36.6 percent from
the field (26-for-71), 20 percent from
3-point range (4-for-20), and 76.2 percent
from the free throw line (16-for-21).
"I thought tonight we did a very nice
job of sharing the ball offensively and
looking to create for one another," said
MVNU coach Matt Moore. "Caleb finally found
a nice rhythm shooting the basketball, and I
thought we were very balanced in our shot
selection. Zach provided a great boost for
us off the bench in his ability to rebound
the ball, and for the first time in a number
of games we were able to string stops
together to build a lead. I was very proud
of the team effort tonight."
The
Cougars will be back in action on Friday at
3 p.m. for their final game of 2011 when
Lourdes College comes to the Physical
Education Center for a non-conference
contest. | |
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