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Quakers
hand B-W first OAC loss
WC
beats second straight top-25 opponent
|Box
Score|
January
7, 2006
Zach Broermann |
BEREA
— Quite a week.
Eric Stirling
and Zach Broermann scored 14 points each to lead Wilmington
College to a 64-61 upset win over No. 12 Baldwin-Wallace on
the Yellow Jackets' court Saturday. The win pulls the Quakers
into a three-way tie atop the Ohio Athletic Conference with
Baldwin-Wallace and John Carroll — all three teams are
5-1.
Quite
a week.
The Quakers,
in posting their eight straight win and raising their overall
record to 12-1, knocked off a top-25 opponent for the second
time in three days. On Wednesday, Wilmington won at No. 22
Ohio Northern, 65-59.
Quite
a week.
"It was
definitely a big week for us," WC head coach Scott Reule said.
"These are games that you are going to put yourself in position
at the end of the year to be where you want to be, tournament-wise.
If you want to host an OAC tournament game, you have to get
some big wins in this league on the road. Obviously, these
were both big wins, but there are twelve more games; they're
going to keep coming."
The Quakers
have shown the ability to win games in a variety of ways,
but the common thread connecting their victories has been
a relentless defense that allows an OAC-low 64 points per
game. In handing the Yellow Jackets (11-2 overall) their first
conference loss of the season, Wilmington forced 21 turnovers,
allowed just 23 second-half points and held B-W 30 points
below its per-game average.
"In the
first half, we weren't very good," Reule said. "We were having
a lot of trouble with their defense, as far as trying to get
things set. They weren't having a very tough time breaking
our press. At halftime, we made some adjustments defensively
and on the boards. They had ten offensive rebounds in the
first half and only three in the second. We did a much better
job of boxing out, as well as turning up our defensive pressure."
After
playing from behind most of the first half and trailing 38-34
at the break, the Quakers got scores from Brett Carpenter
(Marshalville/Smithville), Broermann (Brookville, Ind./Franklin
County), Stirling (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle Academy), Justin
Gaines (Cincinnati/Colerain) and Josh Walters (Cincinnati/Elder)
to take a 44-42 lead at 14:32. The Yellow Jackets scored seven
straight points to move into a 49-44 advantage. Josh Rohrbacher
(Columbus/Beechcroft) scored to ignite a 14-2 Wilmington run
that featured four points and two assists from Broermann —
the second assist setting up a Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East)
three-pointer that put the Quakers up 58-51 with 5:53 to play.
"Zach
is a great shooter, but he can do a lot of other things,"
Reule said. "We saw that today. He's getting more comfortable
with the way we're playing, the things wešre doing, and I
think you're going to see a lot more big nights from him.
Nick Berter (Cincinnati/Reading) shot the ball really well.
Josh Walters and Fred Harrison shot the ball well."
Baldwin-Wallace
pulled to within 61-59 when Tori Davis scored with 54 seconds
to play. Broermann hit a pair of free throws and Berter made
one of two foul shots to put the Quakers in front 64-61 with
six seconds remaining. Baldwin-Wallace missed an opportunity
to force overtime when Brendan Schuler's three-pointer beat
the buzzer, but missed the mark.
Berter
joined Stirling and Broermann in double figures with 11 points,
Walters scored seven, Gaines added six and Harrison totaled
five points. Carpenter led the Quakers with eight rebounds.
Davis — a preseason All-America selection — scored
18 points, six below his average. The junior forward was held
to five second-half points.
"What
I liked most about this win was that we had a really balanced
team effort," Reule said. "That's what you have to have to
beat a team as good as Baldwin-Wallace. It was a combination
of things. Jeff Proctor (Niles/Warren Howland) got some minutes
early in the game when Eric and Travante Leftenant (Columbus/Africentric)
got into foul trouble. Jeff went in and did a great job. That's
the situation you need to beat good teams."
The Quakers
next OAC opponent will be Muskingum. The Muskies will come
to Fred Raizk Arena for a 7:30 p.m. tip-off Wednesday.
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