The Shawnee State Men's Basketball Team (8-3) held off NAIA Division II Indiana Wesleyan (9-2) in the final minutes to hand the Wildcats their second consecutive loss.
"This is a great win for the program against a very solid basketball team," states Bears' Coach Jeff Hamilton. "I thought our team competed well for 40 minutes. Down the stretch we made enough plays to hold off a good Indiana Wesleyan team."
Shawnee State opened the game building a 20-5 lead over the Wildcats, behind Tyler Morgan's (Hamersville, OH) 10 points effort. The Bears' defense held Indiana Wesleyan to just five points for the first 12 minutes of the game. IWU's Jordan Weider ended the Wildcats drought with a jumper with 7:36 remaining in the first half. Shawnee State maintained a double-digit lead most of the half, including building a 26-12 lead with just over five minutes remaining. The Wildcats closed the half on a 9-2 run to pull within 28-21 at the break.
The two teams opened the second half exchanging baskets and a lay-up by sophomore Andrew Devlin (Columbus, OH) gave the Bears the 32-26 advantage. Indiana Wesleyan scored four unanswered points to cut the Bears' lead down to two. The Bears quickly answered back and maintained a two possession lead until Weidner hit a 3-pointer to cut the Bears' lead to 40-38. Shawnee State then went on a 9-2 run capped off by a 3-pointer by junior Tyler Boyles to extend their lead to 49-40 with 6:34 left in the game. Weidner made a lay-up with 5:40 to cut the lead to 49-42 but a 3-pointer by Morgan gave the Bears' their largest lead of the second half. Despite a 4-0 run, the Wildcats couldn't cut the lead to a one possession game until Weidner hit a pair of free throws to pull the Wildcats within 61-58 with 45 seconds remaining. The Bears' had two attempts on the other end but missed both and on the Wildcat's next possession sent Derrick Troyer to the line where he made 1-of-2 cutting the lead to two.
With 34 seconds remaining, junior Mark Bryant went to the line where he converted 1-of-2 to extend the lead back to three, 62-59. On the next possession, IWU's Patrick Hopkins saw an open lane, but was turned down with a rejection by sophomore Trevor Banks. Bryant pulled down the rebound and was fouled and hit two free throws with 24 seconds left to extend the Bears' lead to 64-59. Junior Ian Nixson capped off the Bears' scoring hitting 1-of-2 with 13 seconds left and jumper by Indiana Wesleyan finished the game, handing the Bears the 65-61 victory.
Morgan led the Bears' with 19 points and grabbed six rebounds. Bryant and Boyles each finished with 12 points and Bryant pulled down a team-high eight rebounds.
Weidner was the only Wildcat in double-figures as he led all scorers with 27 points.
For Shawnee State as a team they shot 44 percent while Indiana Wesleyan shot 20-49. The Bears went 7-14 from beyond the arc, while the Wildcats struggled shooting only 27 percent. At the line, Shawnee State converted 20-34, while Indiana Wesleyan went 15-26.
Shawnee State has a break until after the holidays when they travel to North Carolina to start a six game road trip. The Bears will face the University of Virginia at Lynchburg at St. Andrews on December 29 and then travel to UNC-Pembroke on December 30. Shawnee State returns home on January 19 to face West Virginia Tech.
