Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan College followed an emotional victory Saturday night with a roundhouse-kick knockout on Monday.
The Panthers blitzed Bethel 94-45 at the Sportscenter two days after they collected a 16-point victory over No. 6 Bellarmine.
A couple of the Panthers, and head coach Todd Lee, claimed that KWC was not the sharpest team starting the game.
They were correct based on the early point spreads. KWC was up by only 29-19 with 4:24 to go in the first half.
But the Panthers got some action going with Desmond Stephens and Kwan Waller working the passing lanes.
"Kwan and Desmond did a great job leading that group in there at the end of the first half," Lee said.
Willie Richardson got the 14-4 run going with a layup. Maros Zuffa then got another close-in basket before Chris Williams connected on his only 3-pointer, putting the Panthers up 39-23 with 52 seconds to go.
Zuffa got another fastbreak layup, and Waller finished the half with a fastbreak basket just before the horn.
That put KWC firmly in control 43-23 at the break and on the way to its eighth straight victory.
"In the first half we were slacking, but we came in at halftime and Coach (Lee) told us what we were doing wrong," Richardson said. "We had too many turnovers and missed free throws."
The Panthers did throw the ball away 11 times in the first half, but only had five miscues the rest of the way to finish with 16.
The real floor mistakes were happening when Bethel had the ball. The Wildcats committed a whopping 29 turnovers and had just five assists. They made 14-of-48 shots from the field for 29 percent and made just 2-of-10 attempts from 3-point range.
Stephens had a significant hand in the Bethel turnovers, collecting eight steals to go with eight assists.
"Ever since high school, that's what I've been able to do," Stephens said of his steals. "If you see something, then you've got to go get it."
Stephens also had 14 points in 25 minutes and was one of five Panthers who scored in double figures.
Richardson scored a game-high 17 points off the bench, hitting 5-of-7 shots from the floor and 6-of-8 free throws.
KWC had 40 points off turnovers and 26 fastbreak points. KWC's bench contributed 46 points.
Waller had 12 points, Williams finished with 11, and Zuffa had 10. No KWC player logged more than 26 minutes. This was the first of three games in six days for KWC before the team takes a break next week for final exams.
"The guys played tremendous off the bench," Stephens said.
"We kept the intensity up," Richardson said. "We didn't want to take a play off."
The Panthers will take Tuesday off before returning to practice Wednesday to get ready for Asbury, which comes to the Sportscenter for a 7 p.m. tipoff Thursday.
