Young paces KWC to victory - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

Anthony Young continued to show his versatility for Kentucky Wesleyan College on Thursday night.

The junior center from Indianapolis recorded a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Panthers to an 82-64 victory over Asbury in front of 2,500 fans at the Sportscenter.

Along with his work on the glass, Young displayed some long-range touch shooting the basketball. He hit 3-of-6 on 3-pointers and was solid at the free-throw line with a 6-of-7 night.

“It's been that way a lot for me,” Young said of his 3-point shooting during his career. “Most teams we play against probably are not used to a post player shooting from out there, and they will give me some separation.”

Asbury was drastically undersized to be able to handle a 6-foot-7 player anyway, and when Young stepped out, he was usually open to try to knock down those shots.

“Coach Todd Lee will give you the green light if it's an open shot and a good shot,” said Young, who made 6-of-14 from the floor in the game.

Lee didn't especially want the Panthers shooting a lot of 3s in the first half. They were 6-of-15 on 3-pointers (40 percent) and 14-of-34 from the floor (41.2 percent) in the first 20 minutes.

“Anthony, I want him shooting them when he's wide open, but a point of emphasis before the game was to get the ball inside,” Lee said. “We shot too many 3s in the first half, but we did a better job of not doing that in the second half.”

The Panthers (2-0) got a major boost from Marseilles Stewart, who saw his first regular-season action against the NAIA school from Wilmore.

Stewart had been nursing a shoulder injury he incurred in KWC's exhibition game against Evansville and had been out of practice for about 12 days.

The 6-3, 241-pound junior was good all over the court, hitting 7-of-9 from the field and 2-of-3 from 3-point range. He had four rebounds and two assists.

“I was just trying to do anything I can to help the team,” Stewart said. “I want to rebound, get assists, score, anything I can to get an edge on an opponent.”

KWC's Cardell McFarland added 13 points and seven assists, but also had four turnovers. Chris Williams contributed 11 points and six rebounds while going 3-for-4 and making all four of his free throws.

As Lee pointed out, the Panthers were better running their offense in the second half, trying to get in the lane for easier shots, and it showed in their shooting percentage. They made 15-of-24 from the field for 62.5 percent in the second half and finished with an even 50 percent for the game (29-of-58).

“We had about five possessions in the second half where we ran our offense all the way through, and did what we were supposed to do,” Lee said. “I don't know if we had anywhere we did that in the first half.”

Young's work on the glass and Kwan Waller's seven rebounds helped push KWC to a 44-19 rebounding advantage.

Lee wasn't particularly pleased that Asbury was able to get free for 28 shots from 3-point range and made 12 of them for 42.9 percent. Asbury (1-3) hit 22-of-51 from the field for 43 percent. The Eagles were led by Austin Flannery's 21 points and 18 from Jamal Morris.

KWC has a quick turnaround with Bryan coming to the Sportscenter for a 3:30 p.m. game Saturday.

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