Panthers defeat USI - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

The Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team avenged an earlier loss with an impressive 86-68 win over No. 2 University of Southern Indiana on Monday night.

The eighth-ranked Panthers made their last 19 free throws and were in control nearly the entire second half. They were 29-of-33 overall from the line for 87.9 percent and an incredible 22-of-24 in the second half.

"We wanted to win, and it was a total team effort to get that win," said Jay Ivey, who had a tough defensive assignment keeping up with Mohamed Ntubma, USI's center.

The Panthers (26-3, 15-2 in Great Lakes Valley Conference) also were very good defensively on USI star Jamar Smith, who scored 10 points on 4-of-15 shooting from the floor, including 1-of-8 from 3-point range.

"The reason it was tough for us to execute was because of the way they guarded Jamar Smith," USI coach Rodney Watson said. "That was beautiful work."

Most of it was done by Kwan Waller, Willie Richardson and Marico Stinson, who all rotated on Smith, who came into the contest averaging 22 points a game.

"Mainly we were trying to deny him the ball," Waller said. "We were trying to make him dribble instead of stand out there and shoot. We wanted mainly to make him feel uncomfortable. It was a tough assignment, but we made him drive."

Tyrone Bradshaw led USI with 24 points, but KWC got more contributions from across the lineup in front of a sellout crowd of 2,700 at the PAC Arena.

It was believed that there would be a lot of emotion on the USI side because the team was remembering Jamar Lewis, who collapsed on the court at the Sportscenter and later died after USI beat the Panthers 74-69 on Jan 14.

The Screaming Eagles were also trying to finish the season undefeated, but were handed their first loss in 24 games by KWC. They are ineligible to compete in the postseason in the wake of an ongoing NCAA investigation.

"I knew they would be emotional, because they wanted to go undefeated," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "There was enough emotion in this game because of the two teams and how good they both are."

The Panthers were led by Richardson's 18 points, including 4-of-4 on 3-point shooting.

"It was like throwing a rock in the ocean," Richardson said. "We were more physical all around."

Desmond Stephens added 17 points and was one of three KWC players to finish with four fouls. Andree' Wilson notched a double-double against a taller, physical USI frontcourt with 16 points and 11 rebounds.

KWC took command early in the second half, getting consecutive 3-point jumpers from Chris Williams, Richardson and Stephens to take a 44-32 advantage. The Screaming Eagles never got the lead under 10 points the rest of the way.

* USI recognized the support and recognition given by KWC fans and administrators following Lewis' death.

USI athletic director Jon Mark Hall thanked what he called USI's friends from KWC during a brief statement before tipoff.

"We are very grateful for the support that was shown by all the fans and family from Kentucky Wesleyan," Hall said. "We thank you from the bottom of our hearts."

KWC players recognized their fallen competitor by wearing red warm-up shirts with Lewis' number 40 on the back.

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