Front Court, Bench Propel Men
03/09/07
By Justin Bryant, IWU
Sports Info
POINT LOOKOUT, MO—A late first half run, the
strong bench play and freshman center Zach Coverstone
sent the tenth seeded Indiana Wesleyan University
men’s team past seventh seed Oregon Tech 95-82 Friday
in the second round of the NAIA DII National
Tournament.
Down by eight, the Wildcats (30-4) ended the first half with a 9-0 run to claim a 37-36 halftime lead. The Wildcats would never trail again.
“Once again, our bench was a part of that (the 9-0 run),” said IWU coach Greg Tonagel. “The key play to me was (Eugene Green’s) block at the end of regulation. We went into half with the lead and with motivation.”
The bench gave the IWU a boost of energy for the second game in a row led by freshman guard Ryan Hetrick’s 13 points.
“The bench play has kind of been suspect throughout the year,” said Hetrick, “and starting this tournament we’ve been playing really well. (We’re) playing aggressive and there is a lot energy coming off the bench now.”
Coverstone led the IWU’s offense with 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“Every game somebody has to step up that the opposing team doesn’t think will step up,” Coverstone said unselfishly. “And I just tried my best. I got good looks from the guys feeding me the ball and I just stepped into the role.”
Coverstone’s versatility presented problems for the Hustlin’ Owls all game.
“We wanted to get the ball inside (against Oregon Tech),” Tonagel said. “I thought Zach did a great job off the dribble, though. A lot of his stuff (points) came off the dribble from the high post. He’s tough because now he is learning to play away from the basket and with his back to the basket. He’s really developing.”
Ironically, the Wildcats’ defense played exceptionally well giving up 82 points. Oregon Tech is the sixth best scoring offense in NAIA DII averaging 86 points per game.
“They do a nice job of switching on screens,” said Oregon Tech coach Danny Miles of the Wildcats’ defense, “and it takes away the penetration a little bit. That’s the thing I was worried about yesterday watching them, I thought they were sound defensively and just a sound ball club. They don’t look as talented as some of the other team but I’ve heard all year that all they do is win and they did that again today.”
Oregon Tech’s Ryan Fiegi, Joshua Garrett, and Levell Hesia scored 63 of Oregon Tech’s 90 points on 57 percent shooting in their first round victory. The Wildcats held the trio to 53 combined points and stopped all other Hustlin’ Owls from scoring in double figures.
“We just wanted to really guard and make things difficult,” Tonagel said. “They’ve got three really good players and you’re not necessarily going to shut them down but you can make it difficult for them. And I thought our guys did that.”
The Wildcats advance to the Elite 8 where they will second seed MidAmerica Nazarene at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Down by eight, the Wildcats (30-4) ended the first half with a 9-0 run to claim a 37-36 halftime lead. The Wildcats would never trail again.
“Once again, our bench was a part of that (the 9-0 run),” said IWU coach Greg Tonagel. “The key play to me was (Eugene Green’s) block at the end of regulation. We went into half with the lead and with motivation.”
The bench gave the IWU a boost of energy for the second game in a row led by freshman guard Ryan Hetrick’s 13 points.
“The bench play has kind of been suspect throughout the year,” said Hetrick, “and starting this tournament we’ve been playing really well. (We’re) playing aggressive and there is a lot energy coming off the bench now.”
Coverstone led the IWU’s offense with 20 points, eight rebounds and three blocks.
“Every game somebody has to step up that the opposing team doesn’t think will step up,” Coverstone said unselfishly. “And I just tried my best. I got good looks from the guys feeding me the ball and I just stepped into the role.”
Coverstone’s versatility presented problems for the Hustlin’ Owls all game.
“We wanted to get the ball inside (against Oregon Tech),” Tonagel said. “I thought Zach did a great job off the dribble, though. A lot of his stuff (points) came off the dribble from the high post. He’s tough because now he is learning to play away from the basket and with his back to the basket. He’s really developing.”
Ironically, the Wildcats’ defense played exceptionally well giving up 82 points. Oregon Tech is the sixth best scoring offense in NAIA DII averaging 86 points per game.
“They do a nice job of switching on screens,” said Oregon Tech coach Danny Miles of the Wildcats’ defense, “and it takes away the penetration a little bit. That’s the thing I was worried about yesterday watching them, I thought they were sound defensively and just a sound ball club. They don’t look as talented as some of the other team but I’ve heard all year that all they do is win and they did that again today.”
Oregon Tech’s Ryan Fiegi, Joshua Garrett, and Levell Hesia scored 63 of Oregon Tech’s 90 points on 57 percent shooting in their first round victory. The Wildcats held the trio to 53 combined points and stopped all other Hustlin’ Owls from scoring in double figures.
“We just wanted to really guard and make things difficult,” Tonagel said. “They’ve got three really good players and you’re not necessarily going to shut them down but you can make it difficult for them. And I thought our guys did that.”
The Wildcats advance to the Elite 8 where they will second seed MidAmerica Nazarene at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday.