Down by nine points with 8:29 remaining in the second half, the men’s basketball team went on a 19-5 run over the next seven minutes and held on for a 61-58 victory over Saturday evening in the season-opening Elgin Baylor Tip-Off Classic at the .
Drew Harris (, ) started the run with a three-pointer, with Leigh Swanson () hitting a jumper and then converting on a traditional three-point play to tie the game at 49-49. After the two teams traded the lead, Michael Wright (, ) hit a jumper to give the lead for good, with free throws by Chris Gweth () and Wright extending the lead to five at 58-53.
(0-1) cut the lead to two on a three-pointer by Canyon Miller. After Gweth made one of two free throw attempts, Miller missed a three-point shot that would have tied the game, and Wright grabbed the rebound and was fouled, making one of two free throws to ice the game. made 17 free throws in 28 attempts, while went 8-for-14 from the charity stripe.
Wright led the way for with 14 points, plus he pulled down seven rebounds and earned two steals. Gweth finished with 11 points, four assists, and three steals, while Austen Powers () earned nine points and eight rebounds. Mike Boxley (, ) collected eight points, five rebounds, three assists, and two steals, and Swanson and Shaun Burl () each added seven points to the winning effort.
The Wildcats were led by Andy Bocian, who shot 9-of-13 from the field in scoring 24 points. Junior Russell finished with ten points and five assists, Roderick Hawkins contributed seven points and seven rebounds off the bench, and Zach Graves did not score a point but did pull down a game-high 11 rebounds.
shot 42.3 percent from the field, including 27.3 percent from the three-point line, while hit 41.7 percent of its field goal attempts, including 30.8 percent of its shots from behind the three-point line. The Redhawks earned a slight advantage on the boards, 34-32, and committed only 12 turnovers while forcing the Wildcats into 14 turnovers.
In the first game of the doubleheader, ’s scored 17 straight points over a ten-minute span in the first half and then held off Notre Dame de Namur, 65-56. The Saints were up by as much as 30 points in the second half (50-20), but the Argonauts never quit, outscoring ’s 19-4 over the final five minutes of the game. Blake Poole had a double-double for ’s with 15 points and ten rebounds, while Jeff Berridge hit four three-pointers to lead Notre Dame de Namur with 13 points in the game.
(1-0) will face Notre Dame de Namur in the second game of the second doubleheader over the weekend as the Elgin Baylor Classic concludes. will face ’s at 2 p.m., with the Redhawks taking on the Argonauts 30 minutes following the conclusion of the first game. The game will be broadcast locally on KKNW 1150 AM.