Tues., Feb. 10, 2009

Sawyer-Davis' 13th double-double not enough

   MARION, Ind. -- Whether it was the Indiana Wesleyan University defense or poor execution on the part of the University of Saint Francis depended on your perspective, but the Wildcats won 72-56 leaving no room for debate about which team played better on Tuesday night at Luckey Arena.
   After USF (16-11, 8-5 MCC) rocketed to a 17-7 first half lead, the Wildcats outscored the Cougars 26-11 in the last 11:36 of the half and led by double digits through much of the second half.
  "We got open looks, we created some transition opportunities, but we failed to execute and paid the price," USF coach Jeff Rekeweg said. "In the second half, we only had one player who could finish at the basket, so we weren't very hard to guard. We just didn't execute and finish. It is very disappointing, but we've got to re-group and be ready on Saturday (at No. 20 Grace College)."
   DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis returned to his freshman stomping grounds and produced his 13th double-double of the season -- 23 points and 10 rebounds. He had 19 points in the second half. Trouble was, USF only scored 28 in the second half. IWU (22-5, 10-3 MCC) outscored USF 39-28 in the second half after grabbing a 33-28 lead after the first 20 minutes. Kreigh Hentrup scored 11 points, the only other Cougar to crack double figures, but all he could muster in the second half was a 3-pointer.
   USF only shot 39 percent in the second half hitting 10-of-26 shots, IWU finished at 50 percent in the first half (13 for 26) and got even hotter in the second half drilling 15-of-27 shots, a .556 percentage. Shooting from 3-point range didn't help the Cougars' cause either -- 2-for-10 in the first half, 3-for-9 in the second half.
   The Cougars couldn't have asked for a much better start. Matt Edmonds gave USF its first 7-point lead, 9-2 at 15:38. Nate Bojrab got a steal and scored and USF again led 11-4 with 13:55 to play in the first half. Sawyer-Davis rebounded a Bojrab miss and scored at 13:11 for a 13-4 USF lead. Eric Eaton scored in the paint for a 15-7 USF lead at 11:40 and Eaton scored again at 11:36 pushing the Cougars' lead to 17-7 with 11:36 to play.
  Josh Williams made the first free throw, missed the second, but Williams started the 12-0 IWU surge at 11:02. USF turned the ball over three times, had one shot blocked and missed three shots while IWU dashed to a 19-17 lead at 8:03 on an Antonio Murrell basket. Edmonds scored on an athletic reverse layup ending nearly a 4-minute USF dry spell and tying the game at 19 with 7:50 to play. Landon Adler scored to break the tie, but Hentrup knotted the game at 21 with six minutes to play.
   Williams hit two free throws for a 23-21 IWU lead, but Hentrup buried a 3-pointer for a 24-23 USF lead with 5:20 to play. Adler gave IWU the lead for good scoring at 5:03 for a 25-24 IWU lead. After Kevin Dawson missed a 3-pointer from the top of the key, Derrick Troyer tallied for a 27-24 IWU lead with 4:23 to play. Dawson pulled USF back within 1, 27-26, with a basket on a rebounded miss, but USF never led or tied the game again. Austin Leisure hit to free throws at 2:54 slicing the deficit back to 1, 29-28, but Troyer and Zach Coverstone scored back-to-back baskets for a 33-28 halftime lead. USF had the ball and held it for the final shot, but Leisure lost control of the ball as he made a move and the horn sounded with both teams scrambling for control of the ball.
  The second half didn't start any better for USF, Bojrab missing a drive to the basket and Adler drawing a foul and canning two free throws at 19:28. USF managed just 2-for-6 shooting early in the second half and turned the ball over twice allowing IWU to slowly advance to its first double-digit lead at 45-34 with 13:21 to play on a Murrell 3-pointer. After a Hentrup 3-pointer, Murrell scored in the paint for a 47-37 IWU lead with 12:44 to play. USF only cut the deficit to single digits once the rest of the way while the Wildcats led by as many as 16 points twice, 57-41 and 59-43,
  Sawyer-Davis, who missed his first four 3-pointers, got one to drop with 3:48 to play slashing the IWU lead to 65-56, but Coverstone answered just 15 seconds later. USF didn't score again missing four shots in the time remaining.
  IWU improved to 20-1 when leading at halftime and came into the game outscoring opponents in the first half by an average of 38-30. IWU has won seven straight in its series with USF.
   After a long, quiet ride back to Fort Wayne, the MCC fourth-place Cougars attempt to regroup and get ready for No. 20 Grace on Saturday at 3 p.m.
  The last regular season home game is Tuesday, Feb. 17at 7 pm against Huntington.  This will be senior night and USF will be recognizing our four varsity seniors:  Nate Bojrab, Kreigh Hentrup, Eric Eaton, and Shane Denny.