Indiana Wesleyan University traveled to Saint Francis University Tuesday night for a battle of the top two seeds in the Crossroads League Tournament Finals.
The game started off as a defensive battle, and the Wildcats struggled to hold onto the ball. The game was close throughout, as one team couldn’t pull away from the other. However, IWU was able to take a 20-17 lead with eight minutes to go in the half, but it was quickly wiped away when the Cougars went on a 5-0 run to retake the lead.
It was a back-and-forth battle to end the half. Trevor Waite (fr) converted a four-point play to tie the game, but St. Francis came right back down the floor where they took the lead with an and-one layup. With a three-point buzzer beater at the half, St. Francis went into the locker room up 39-35.
Turnovers haunted IWU in the first half, and the second half started out the same way. St. Francis came out on a tear, and the lead was 11 with 13:40 remaining in the game. The Wildcats immediately turned the game around, though. The offense came alive over the next two minutes. The Wildcats went on a quick 13-0 run, capped off by an and-one by Jacob Johnson (so) to go up by two.
Indiana Wesleyan was able to dominate on the offensive boards, but they couldn’t keep a lead against the Cougars. But, with just 20 seconds left, the Wildcats were down by three. Bob Peters (jr) shot a three, missed, grabbed his own rebound, and went up with another three. He nailed it to tie the game.
The Cougars had the ball for the last possession of the championship. As the clock wound down, St. Francis drove the ball to the hoop and drew a shooting foul. They missed the first free throw, but made the second. IWU had 1.7 seconds left but couldn’t get a shot up.
The St. Francis Cougars defeated the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats 81-80 to win the Crossroads League Tournament Championship.
Peters lead the way for the Wildcats, scoring 22 points, and he also grabbed 5 rebounds and dished out 3 assists. Jonny Marlin (sr) had 13 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists, while Lane Mahurin scored 12 points, and had 4 rebounds and 5 assists.
The killer for the Wildcats was their defense. They allowed St. Francis to shoot 60.4 percent from the field while they only shot 46.7 percent. The Cougars also had 28 free throw attempts to the Wildcats nine.
Grant Evans (so) was not happy to hear about their defense and free throw attempts.
“It’s disappointing kind of to hear that [free throw] stat,” said Evans. “We’re continuing to work on having a downhill mentality. The free throw battle is something we strive to win in every single game. That’s something we just have to continue to have as a focal point and make sure we keep attacking and not settle for jump shots, and letting our offense flow through paint touches.”
Marlin was very forward about why St. Francis’ shooting percent was so high.
“Too many layups,” said Marlin. “They got to the rim a lot more. That’s why they shot 60 percent. If we took away what their strengths are, make them go with what they aren’t comfortable with, hopefully that percentage goes down a little bit.”
While the team wasn’t happy about losing the game, they were also upset about letting their seniors down.
“It’s tough,” said Evans. “We have two seniors who have been our leaders throughout the season who have been really vocal leaders, and also leaders on the floor. To not be able to give them a conference championship is tough.”
Both Marlin and Evans believe the team still has a lot of confidence going forward, and they believe the team can make a deep run in the NAIA National Tournament.
“We’re not down by any means,” said Evans. “Obviously we wish we could’ve won, but we understand that if we go win a national championship, then everything that’s happened this season is going to be forgotten about, and this team has the ability to go do that and I think we’re all very confident in our ability.
“I cannot imagine us being a team that does not have confidence,” said Marlin. “We know that we are very dangerous offensively. If we could make a few minor adjustments, defensively, then we are a team that can go far and make a lot of noise in the tournament.”
The Wildcats travel to Branson, Miss. next week for the NAIA National Tournament.