McFarland scores 31 in KWC victory - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

Cardell McFarland was unstoppable for No. 16 Kentucky Wesleyan on Friday night.

The 6-foot junior guard erupted for 31 points as the Panthers withstood an early challenge before pulling away late from Urbana 95-69 in the opening game of the Owensboro Classic before an estimated 2,000 fans at the Sportscenter.

KWC takes a 4-0 record into today's 8 p.m. Classic encounter with No. 24 Ferris State. Drury meets Urbana in the 6 p.m. opener.

"Cardell's the leader of our offense -- he does a lot of things well," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "He's a very good offensive player who is still learning the system.

"He gets out and goes with it -- he sets the tempo for our basketball team."

McFarland, an Evansville native, didn't miss a shot in the first half -- going 6-of-6 from the field, including a 3-pointer, and 4-of-4 from the foul stripe for 17 points as the Panthers built a 40-34 lead.

Despite McFarland's production, Lee thought his team's overall play lacked cohesiveness in the first 20 minutes.

"I felt like we came out with no purpose of mind on either end of the floor," Lee said. "We shot the ball too quickly on the offensive end, with only one or two passes, and we didn't defend very well, either.

"I thought that set the tone for the first two-thirds of the game. Down the stretch, I thought we did a better job of distributing the ball and a better job of defending -- and it showed."

The Blue Knights (1-5) were still within 11 with 7:27 to play following consecutive baskets by Ramel Mitchell and Robert Wilson, but Wesleyan kicked into another gear after that -- outscoring the visitors from Ohio 28-13 over the final 7:15.

Doing much of the second-half damage was Marseilles Stewart, a 6-foot-3, 241-pound junior guard from San Francisco.

Stewart scored 11 of his 20 points after intermission. He added seven rebounds.

"Marseilles is going to be a tough matchup for our opponents because he's an odd-sized guard," Lee said. "He can post up low and use his size and strength advantage. He's pretty athletic with ball in hand. He can make things happen on the interior."

Stewart finished 8-of-8 from the foul line, and McFarland made all 13 of his free throws on a night when the Panthers sizzled from the line (37-of-42, 88 percent).

McFarland led all scorers and finished 8-of-10 from the floor, including 2-of-2 from 3-point range -- logging just 29 minutes.

Outside of McFarland's two treys, however, KWC was 0-for-12 from long distance.

The Panthers also got 15 points and six rebounds from Anthony Young, who was 9-of-9 from the free-throw stripe. Kwan Waller added 10 points.

KWC had just eight assists, however, and that was a troubling statistic for Lee.

"We had too much one-on-one play, and we settled for shots too quickly in our set offense," he said. "Against the better teams on our schedule, we have to run the offense much better. We've got to be able to move the ball and create shots."

Wilson led Urbana with 19 points. Marcus Pearl added 10 points and Stefon Perry secured a game-best 10 rebounds.

* In Friday's nightcap, Drury, a member of the Great Lakes Valley Conference with KWC, defeated Ferris State 88-72.

Drury vs. Ferris State Box Score

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