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USF's Holden delivers double-double to pop Pilots upset bubble

Sat., Feb. 14,  2004

   FORT WAYNE, Ind. – Junior Chase Holden converted a 3-point play with 1:26 to play and teammate Zach Beiswanger connected on 8-of-8 from the free-throw line in the time remaining to help the University of Saint Francis thwart Bethel College 83-72 on Saturday afternoon.

   USF (17-13, 8-4 Mid-Central Conference) trailed by four points on three different occasions in the second half before bouncing back for the win. Holden led USF with 20 points, 11 rebounds – his fifth double-double this season -- and becomes the 22rd Cougar to score 1,000 or more points in a career. He has 1,006 points and his 20 against BC was a season-best. USF holds onto second place in the MCC with the win and plays host to conference leader Marian on Tuesday night. Grace dropped Huntington into a tie for second with a 66-62 win. Marian downed Goshen 64-50.

  Freshman Trey Eaton (Claypool, IN / Tippecanoe Valley) and Ryan Bradley (Wakarusa, IN / NorthWood) scored 12 points apiece, Eaton scoring all of his points in the second half. Beiswanger (Kendallville, IN / East Noble) finished with 10 points, all in the second half before a crowd of more than 1,200.

  “I was surprised the ball got through to me because there were at least four people in front of me,” Holden said about his 3-point play. “Trey drove baseline and put a nice hard pass in my hands. What a pass. That was a big play by Trey and that was the turning point, though we knew we didn’t have a lock on it yet.”

   “We had to keep the pressure on, make sure if they got a shot, it was one and done.”

  BC (20-11, 6-6 MCC) trailed by 15 midway through the first half, but rallied to tie the score at 38 with a 23-7 explosion. John Jamerson’s basket just before time expired gave USF a 40-38 halftime lead.

   “The best thing about today was winning in a game I went over 1,000 points,” Holden said. “John (Gensic) scored his 1,000th against Bethel, too, but we lost. This was sweeter.”

   Eaton, who leads USF scoring with a 16.3 average, sat out the last 17 minutes of the first half after picking up two fouls in the first three minutes.

   “That’s hard to get back into the flow of the game after sitting that long, but Trey made some big plays and hit some big shots in the last 12 minutes,” USF coach Jeff Rekeweg said. “We made some big plays on offense and defense when it mattered most. And Chase had a double-double. We just need to cut down those turnovers. We make it harder than it has to be.”

  

-- GO USF --

 
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