Wildcats Advance to Sweet 16
03/08/07
By Justin Bryant, IWU
Sports Info
POINT LOOKOUT, MO—Overcoming a sluggish start,
the tenth seeded Indiana Wesleyan University men’s
basketball ended the first half with a 12-0 run
propelling them to a 80-54 victory over Aquinas
College (MI) Thursday morning in first round of the
NAIA DII National Tournament.
The Wildcats (29-4), who woke up at 6 a.m. for their 8:30 a.m. game, appeared a little slow to start the game as they fell behind early 7-0.
“I think jitters played a big part,” said sophomore guard Antonio Murrell, “but at the same time we weren’t rebounding and they were getting second chance points. And we weren’t scoring, so we kind of got off on the wrong foot.”
After a timeout, IWU went on a 14-6 to claim their first lead of the game at 14-13 behind the play of bench players Eugene Green (sr.) and Ryan Hetrick (fr.).
“Our bench was huge,” IWU coach Greg Tonagel said. “Ryan Hetrick played with confidence. Gene Green came in and they both gave us not only defense but point production.”
Green finished the game with only six points and three rebounds but none bigger than his first two from the free throw line that gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game.
“Those points were only two points,” Green said, “but they were big and I did score them. I guess you could say that those were energy points. I just try to feed off of the team and then the team feeds off of my energy.”
Murrell took over after that leading the Wildcats on a 12-0 run to end the half, finishing with a Murrell dunk to extend the IWU lead to 37-23.
Murrell scored a game-high 18 points after not scoring in the first five minutes. He also had a game-high five assists as the Saints (22-12) were unable to find a way to shut him down.
“In the beginning, I’m a pass first guy,” said Murrell of his play. “I try to get everybody involved then if I see an opportunity to attack I will. If I see that we aren’t executing well then I’ll try to shoot the ball.”
The Wildcats’ defense swarmed the Saints all night holding Aquinas to only 33 percent shooting. Saints’ leading scorer, Jeff Jayson, was held scoreless until two minutes left in the game.
“They tracked him (Jayson) real well,” Aquinas coach Dave Hammer. “I thought they switched and moved their feet real well. Jeff had some open looks but he didn’t make them. I thought Wesleyan did a really good job of bumping him off of his spot.”
IWU will play on Friday at noon against Oregon Tech, who defeated Northwood 90-72 on Thursday.
The Wildcats (29-4), who woke up at 6 a.m. for their 8:30 a.m. game, appeared a little slow to start the game as they fell behind early 7-0.
“I think jitters played a big part,” said sophomore guard Antonio Murrell, “but at the same time we weren’t rebounding and they were getting second chance points. And we weren’t scoring, so we kind of got off on the wrong foot.”
After a timeout, IWU went on a 14-6 to claim their first lead of the game at 14-13 behind the play of bench players Eugene Green (sr.) and Ryan Hetrick (fr.).
“Our bench was huge,” IWU coach Greg Tonagel said. “Ryan Hetrick played with confidence. Gene Green came in and they both gave us not only defense but point production.”
Green finished the game with only six points and three rebounds but none bigger than his first two from the free throw line that gave the Wildcats their first lead of the game.
“Those points were only two points,” Green said, “but they were big and I did score them. I guess you could say that those were energy points. I just try to feed off of the team and then the team feeds off of my energy.”
Murrell took over after that leading the Wildcats on a 12-0 run to end the half, finishing with a Murrell dunk to extend the IWU lead to 37-23.
Murrell scored a game-high 18 points after not scoring in the first five minutes. He also had a game-high five assists as the Saints (22-12) were unable to find a way to shut him down.
“In the beginning, I’m a pass first guy,” said Murrell of his play. “I try to get everybody involved then if I see an opportunity to attack I will. If I see that we aren’t executing well then I’ll try to shoot the ball.”
The Wildcats’ defense swarmed the Saints all night holding Aquinas to only 33 percent shooting. Saints’ leading scorer, Jeff Jayson, was held scoreless until two minutes left in the game.
“They tracked him (Jayson) real well,” Aquinas coach Dave Hammer. “I thought they switched and moved their feet real well. Jeff had some open looks but he didn’t make them. I thought Wesleyan did a really good job of bumping him off of his spot.”
IWU will play on Friday at noon against Oregon Tech, who defeated Northwood 90-72 on Thursday.