Waller paces KWC romp - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

Kwan Waller had a mid-range game on Thursday night that was tough to stop.

The senior guard for Kentucky Wesleyan College scored a game-high 23 points to lead all five starters in double figures, and the No. 24 Panthers rolled to a 95-71 win over Quincy.

Waller didn't make a 3-point shot in four attempts, but he was strong getting in the lane, and hitting jump shots consistently from 15 to 18 feet in front of 2,500 fans at the Sportscenter.

"The 3s felt like I was taking them from so far away," Waller said. "But the mid-range shots felt like layups, so I was taking them."

Waller made 8-of-17 from the floor and 7-of-8 free throws as he came within a point of tying his career high.

"Kwan has been shooting the ball well in practice, he's made a lot of 15-to-17 footers," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "And he attacked the rim. Kwan can't settle for a 3-pointer. He's too athletic not to attack the rim."

Waller also passed out three assists in 33 minutes. He was one of three KWC players with three assists, and Cardell McFarland passed for four assists to go along with his 18 points.

"Cardell was a little lethargic in the first half, but he was much more aggressive in the second half," Lee said. "We did a good job of sharing the ball."

McFarland missed the three shots he took in the first half, but was 5-of-6 in the second half, and he also made all six of his free throws.

"We did a good job guarding him, but he didn't take not scoring in the first half too well," Quincy coach Marty Bell said.

KWC shot lights out in the second half, hitting 18-of-25 for 72 percent. The Panthers were 31-of-56 from the floor and hit 55.4 percent for the game. They also made 10-of-24 on 3-pointers for 41.7 percent.

KWC was highly effective from the free-throw line, hitting 23-of-25 for 92 percent.

"It wasn't a cloud burst where they go on an 8-0 run, it was just a steady downpour," Bell said. "We threw every defense we could at them, and nothing we did could stop them."

The Panthers used that steady offense to run their record to 14-4 overall, 7-4 in the Great Lakes Valley Conference.

Anthony Young scored 16 points for KWC, Chris Williams hit for 13 and Marseilles Stewart added 11. The Panthers got some good scoring off the bench (14 points), and Luke Shelly gave the team a lift during his five minutes in the first half.

The Panthers did a better job defending, too, than in losses last week to Southern Indiana and Northern Kentucky.

They held Quincy to 40 percent shooting from the field (20-of-50) and 3-of-19 for 15.8 percent from 3-point range. The Hawks also hit 28-of-34 free throws for 82.4 percent.

The teams got plenty of practice at the free-throw line with 57 total fouls called in the game.

Quincy fell to 11-8, 4-7.

The major problem in this one for KWC was rebounding, where Quincy held a 31-26 edge.

"They got 10 offensive rebounds," Lee said. "We've got to get better in that area."

Mostly, though, it was a good way for the Panthers to try to close out this home stretch strong. They host Lewis on Saturday, then will have just one more home game, Feb. 14 when Southern Indiana comes to the Sportscenter.

"We need to finish out the weekend strong," Lee said. "We can't afford to slip up anymore at home."

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