MARION, Ind. — The men's basketball program at Shawnee State put nine different players in the scoring column and led for the first 25:10 of a Wednesday evening nonconference contest against No. 6 Indiana Wesleyan at Luckey Arena in Marion, Ind. -- outplaying the Wildcats and putting the Bears in position for a statement victory -- but SSU was outscored 38-20 in the final 20 minutes of the contest as Shawnee State (2-2) fell to Indiana Wesleyan (6-0) in a 69-58 setback that was closer than the final margin indicated.
Despite the loss, Shawnee State forced 26 Indiana Wesleyan turnovers as the Bears continued to do excellent work defensively with their activity.
Fred Lymas' group forced four straight turnovers, which led to a 6-0 Shawnee State run within the first minute and 20 seconds of the contest. During that stretch,
Rheyce DeBoard posted two steals -- leading to a layup of his own and a bucket for
Daniel Rosenber -- while
Jason Steele scored off of a strip from
Tyreon Payne. Shawnee State later increased its lead to 14-6 with 15:03 to play in the opening half as Rosenber scored on a jumper while DeBoard found Steele and Rosenber for a pair of buckets.
Fouls -- which at one point tallied at Shawnee State 8, Indiana Wesleyan 1 over the opening 8:17 of the contest -- appeared to be the only thing that could slow the Bears down early, but even then,
Damon Charles,
Ahmadou Aw,
Jareon Mayo,
Jaiden Guice and
El Sieger gave Shawnee State a lift at different points.
Charles scored four key points during the middle of the opening half and Sieger nabbed nine points -- including a critical and-one with four seconds remaining in the half, going on a half-ending 12-6 run to take a 38-31 halftime advantage heading into the locker room.
The Bears, who forced forced 12 Indiana Wesleyan turnovers in the opening half, forced three additional Wildcat miscues in the second half, and, behind another and-one finish by Sieger, took a 41-36 lead with 18:08 to play. However, Indiana Wesleyan responded with a 13-4 run to take a 49-45 advantage with 13:05 to go, and despite a quick 4-0 run by Shawnee State that was capped by a
Tyreon Payne layup with 12:08 to play to tie the score, Indiana Wesleyan answered with a 20-7 run over the next 11:17 which proved to be the difference in the contest.
Steele led the team with 14 points, going 6-of-11 from the field and adding a pair of free throws, while Sieger contributed 14 points as well off of the bench, making all six of his free throws. Rosenber posted eight points, five rebounds and two steals to boot.
In addition to the above trio, Aw and Charles combined for seven steals and two blocks in the contest for Shawnee State, helping head what was a stingy defensive effort by the Bears off of the bench.
Shawnee State will return to action Saturday afternoon with a contest at in-state foe Lourdes on Nov. 15. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. in Sylvania, Ohio.
