|
11.15.08
- With 18 lead changes and six ties in the contest, the championship game of
the Ness Bros - Huntington University Classic between HU and
Cardinal Stritch University made for an exciting game to watch.
Unfortunately someone has to lose and this time it was the Foresters
that came up short as they were edged 83-80 by the Wolves for the
tourney title.
Although HU built a nine-point lead
early in the first half, the Foresters struggled from the field
throughout the period which allowed Cardinal Stritch to recover from
the early deficit. The Wolves put together a 20-4 run midway
through the half to take a 28-21 lead at the 6:53 mark. Back-to-back
threes from Kyle Benge and Kellen Zawadzki in the final minute of
the half allowed HU to pull within two at 39-37 at intermission.
Just over a
minute into the second half, the Foresters knotted the score at 39
on a Luke Smith steal and layup by Zawadzki and they rode the
momentum to a 54-48 lead with 13:20 to play. Following a Cardinal
Stritch timeout, the Wolves forced HU into a pair of turnovers and
scored eight unanswered points to go back on top 56-54. Over
the next seven and a half minutes, the lead changed hands six times
and was tied 67-67 with 5:54 to play. The Wolves then put a
decisive 11-4 run on HU to take a 78-71 lead with 3:22 on the clock
and they were still up 83-75 with 1:28 to play.
On the Foresters'
next possession, Kevin Kyle knocked down two charity tosses to cut
it to 83-77 and following a missed layup by Trey Triplett, HU's
Andrew Mock drained a three to make it 83-80 with 48 seconds left.
The Foresters got a stop on the defensive end and had 20 seconds to
work for the final shot. Smith got a good look with six
seconds, but it was off the mark and the Wolves grabbed the rebound.
Tournament MVP
Trey Triplett topped all scorers in the game with 27 points for
Cardinal Stritch. Brandon D'Amico (19 points) and Kody Braddix
(12 points) joined him on the All-Tournament team. HU's Kyle
and Zawadzki also earned a spot on the All-Tournament team.
They finished with 23 and 22 points respectively. Zawadzki
added a game-high 10 boards in the game. Benge finished with
16 points and Smith had 11. Mock chipped in five points and 11
assists in the game. The final member of the All-Tournament
team was Marquis Turley from Concordia University Concordia
was an 83-49 winner over Kuyper College in Saturday's consolation
game.
Box Score
|
