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USF takes care of IWU “Road Warriors” 64-51

Tues., Feb. 8, 2005

FORT WAYNE, Ind. – The USF men did what Huntington, Taylor and Goshen could not – beat last-place Indiana Wesleyan on their home court. Gabe Miller’s 16 points and 14 rebounds led the Cougars to a 64-51 win over the Wildcats at Hutzell Athletic Center Tuesday night. USF (13-14, 6-7 MCC) overcame 35% shooting with a 15-1 scoring advantage at the free-throw line and a season-low seven turnovers.

Despite the poor shooting, USF led by seven early and then overcame a four-point deficit late in the first half to take a 24-19 lead into the locker room. Two Trey Eaton three-pointers and a Chase Holden three-point play gave the Cougars a 9-2 advantage at the 16:18 mark in the opening period. IWU battled back to take its first lead of the game – 13-11 – on a Danny Schukraft bucket with 9:32 on the clock. Wesleyan maintained a lead of as many as four for the next seven minutes, but after Miller’s field goal for USF at 2:29 tied the score at 19 apiece, the Wildcats would never lead again.

Chase Traughber hit a three as the second half commenced to bring IWU back within two at 24-22, but that is as close as the visitors would get. An Eric Eaton basket in the paint at 15:11 built USF its largest lead of the night at 39-22 with 14:28 left. Five Wildcat three-pointers – including three more from Traughber -- would help trim the USF advantage back to as few as five points with less than five minutes to play at 56-51, but the Cougars scored the last eight points to close out the game.

Holden supported Miller’s 16 and 12 with 15 points and four boards. The senior center got back on track after his six points in the Marian loss last week broke a personal 12-game double-figure scoring streak. John Gensic hit 4-of-5 field goal tries – including 3-of-4 from long range – en route to his 11 points. Trey Eaton finished with eight on two threes and a pair of free throws and Eric Eaton added six on three field goals in 12 minutes. Zach Beiswanger did not score but dished five assists with no turnovers in his 27 minutes of court time.

Traughber’s four three-pointers for 12 points paced IWU’s offensive effort. Jared Boser and Brandon McCorkle also reached double-figures with 10 points each. The loss drops the Wildcats to 7-19 on the season, 3-11 in MCC play. Just 1-11 at home in 2004-05, Wesleyan came into tonight’s contest 6-7 away from Marion, including wins at first place Huntington (1/22), second-place Taylor (1/04) and then third-place Goshen (2/01).

The Cougars return to action Saturday afternoon Feb. 12 with a three o’clock tip at Bethel College. Bethel and USF entered tonight tied for seventh place in the conference table with a 5-7 record. The Cougars registered a 91-79 comeback win over the Pilots Jan. 11 at HAC.

 

-Go USF-

 
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