In a game that was meant to Remember the Marion College Titans, the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats did well in paying tribute, even without Point Guard Jonny Marlin (jr) and an hour delay start to the game.
The Wildcats forced 17 Cougar turnovers. Photo by Lauren Dafoe.
The story of the first half was IWU’s defense. The first couple minutes didn’t start off great, as Spring Arbor went up 7-2. However, the Wildcats answered the slow start with a 16-0 run to put them up 18-7 in the first six minutes of the first half. Spring Arbor couldn’t get anything going on offense, as they turned the ball over and had some of their shots blocked.
From the 18 minute mark to the 8:30 mark in the first half, the Spring Arbor Cougars did not score a single point.
Although the Cougars’ offense wasn’t the best, Indiana Wesleyan played sloppy at times. Spring Arbor was not able to stop the Wildcats, and IWU got into its transition offense.
Spring Arbor was finally able to stop the Wildcats’ run, but IWU went on another 11-0 run soon after to go up 32-12 with 3:25 remaining in the half.
The Wildcats took a 16 point lead of 40-24 going into the second half, and it could have been much larger.
After the intermission, the game was a bit different. For the better part of the first ten minutes, the Cougars were slowly chipping away at the lead, bringing it to within ten with 9:45 left in the game. But the Wildcats went on yet another run — this time 8-0 — to bring the lead to 18 with just over six minutes to go.
After the run, it was smooth sailing for the Wildcats, as they maintained their lead throughout the last six minutes.
Turnovers were a key in the win, as the Cougars coughed the ball up 17 times in the game.
Another big part of the win was the whole team chipping in offensively. Only two players scored in double digits: Bob Peters (so) with 15 (5-8 from the field), and DJ Bettinger (sr) with 11 (4-7).
Aaron Murray (so) provided a spark off the bench for the Wildcats. Photo by Lauren Dafoe.
Head Coach Greg Tonagel gave Aaron Murray (so) a lot of credit in the Wildcat win. He came off of the bench and scored nine points without missing a shot (4-4).
“We got stagnant, kind of lost our energy on both ends of the floor, but then in comes Aaron Murray, and I think he brought a lot of energy and got a lot going,” Tonagel said. “So tip your hat to Murray and that effort he gave us.”
The final score of the game was 72-51 in favor of the Indiana Wesleyan Wildcats, allowing the team to clinch at least a share of the best regular season record in the Crossroads League.
The Wildcats improve to 26-2 and next play at Goshen College on Tuesday, Feb. 17 at 7:00 pm.