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Quakers
hold off Lions, 71-66
WC
takes 10-1 mark into new year
|Box
Score|
December
31, 2005
Brett Carpenter |
Wilmington
College hit six straight free throws in the final minute to
hold off Mount St. Joseph, 71-66, in non-conference action
Saturday at Fred Raizk Arena. The win is the Quakers' sixth
straight and raises their record to 10-1. The Mount has dropped
three straight and stands at 6-4.
"I really
feel that, outside of John Carroll, this may be the best team
we've played all year," WC head coach Scott Reule said. "They
are very good. We're very similar teams in what we try to
do. We told the guys that whoever wins the battle of turnovers
and rebounding would win the game."
The Lions
roared early, opening a nine-point lead on the long-range
shooting of Tony Blomer, who hit four treys. In the first
half alone, the Mount connected on eight-of-15 three-pointers.
The Quakers were ice-cold from long distance, going 0-for-eight
in the opening period. Eric Stirling (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle
Academy) and Travante Leftenant (Columbus/Africentric) provided
strong inside play and combined for 17 points to keep the
Quakers within six, 37-31, at the half.
Both teams
picked up the defensive pressure in the second half. Wilmington
committed 11 of its 18 turnovers after the break, while 16
of the Mount's 24 turnovers came in the second half.
"You would
think you would be good against a pressing team because you
play against it daily in practice, but it can still cause
you a lot of problems, sometimes just because the look and
the type of pressure being applied isn't the exact way you
do things," Reule said. "They definitely caused us some problems,
but fortunately we caused some problems for them."
Most problematic
for the Lions was Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East), who was
a nightmare off the WC bench with five steals and 11 of his
13 points down the stretch.
"The thing
that Fred does so well is never let his guard down; his pressure
is always on whoever hešs guarding and it's always intense,"
Reule said. "He's so long and athletic that he can make so
many things happen."
The Quakers
took the lead midway through the second half and extended
the margin to nine. The Lions, though, cut the deficit to
three and had the ball in the closing seconds, but committed
a turnover on an in-bound play. The Quakers iced the victory
at the charity stripe as Zach Broermann (Brookville, Ind./Franklin
County), Nick Berter (Cincinnati/Reading) and Stirling each
hit a pair of foul shots.
Stirling
scored 23 points and pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds en
route to his third double-double of the season. Berter scored
13 points, Leftenant and Brett Carpenter (Marshalville/Smithville)
added eight apiece. The Quakers enjoyed the rebounding advantage,
42-35. Harrison collected seven boards for WC. Jones led the
Lions with 24 points and seven rebounds.
Off to
their best start in nearly 50 years, the Quakers return to
Ohio Athletic Conference action Wednesday, with a 7:30 tip-off
at Ohio Northern. Reule said the start feels good, but now
is not the time to get caught up in counting wins.
"If you
would have offered us a 10-1 start back in October, we as
a team probably would have taken it," Reule said. "But I also
know this team feels like it should be 11-0. They believe
that and they work hard every day when we come to practice.
Thatšs what puts us in a position even to be 10-1. They believe
that we can win every time we step onto the floor. They respect
everybody, but they don't fear anyone."
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