Panthers roll in opener - Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

There will certainly be rougher days for Kentucky Wesleyan college this men's basketball season.

But Saturday's season opener at the Sportscenter was about big numbers and great offense for the Panthers.

They hammered Asbury 125-67 in front of an announced crowd of 2,000.

Anthony Young put up 44 points, grabbed 14 rebounds, and also made all 16 of his free throws, to lead the No. 15 Panthers.

"They had a tough time matching up with him when he posted up," KWC coach Todd Lee said. "When Anthony is active, he gets to the free-throw line. When he attacks the basket he's going to get fouled. When he goes to the offensive glass he's going to get bumped and will go to the free-throw line. When he posts up he's going to get fouled."

Young is a fine 3-point shooter who can play well on the perimeter, but he was impossible for Asbury to match up with. Young could also be a tough matchup with his post-up game in the Great Lakes Valley Conference later this season.

"I found myself shooting a lot of 3s before, but I know the team will be better with me being a physical post presence inside," Young said.

Cardell McFarland made 10-of-12 shots from the floor on the way to 23 points. He also had five assists, as did Kreig Oxley.

"One of our best offenses is when Cardell gets the ball in the open court, and he was doing that a lot today," Lee said.

Luke Shelly came off the bench to notch 13 points for the Panthers. The team played almost all substitutes over the last 12 minutes.

At halftime the scoreboard read 72-17, KWC, and Young was working on a 30-point half. The 6-foot-7 senior was an offensive machine, pulling down a double-double in the first 20 minutes. Young had 30 points and 11 rebounds.

The point total was second-most by a KWC player all time. King Kelly Coleman scored 32 against Centre in 1958.

Young, who was 7-of-12 from the floor and made all 14 of his free-throw attempts in the first half.

McFarland was equally damaging and efficient from all over the court. McFarland made 9-of-10 from the field, passed for three assists with a steal and a turnover, all in the first half.

KWC got good shots and were very aware of sharing the ball. Brandon Johnson had a team-high seven assists for KWC.

One prime example of that late in the first half came when McFarland got a dunk off a long pass from Young, while Johnson directed traffic in the passing lanes late in the first half.

KWC made 60.6 percent for the game from the floor (43-of-71), was 11-of-25 on 3-pointers and hit 28-of-33 free throws for 85 percent. The Panthers owned a 39-25 rebounding advantage.

KWC also got the chance to look at different lineup combinations. KWC had 10 players with at least 13 minutes on the floor.

The Panthers will likely work more on defensive intensity, which was going to be lacking in the second half because of the big lead they had built.

Asbury shot 63 percent in the second half and hit 10-of-16 from 3-point range. It made 7-of-26 from the floor in the first half for 26.9 percent and was 1-of-11 on 3-pointers. Asbury finished at 46 percent from the field for the game (26-of-56) and 11-of-27 on 3s.

It was just the kind of effort that will give the Panthers confidence heading into a Tuesday home date with Hiwassee. The score of that one could be just as lopsided as the Asbury outcome.

But the Panthers can use both of these early-season games as tuneups for what should be a challenging next weekend.

KWC will face Clark Atlanta on Friday and Bloomfield on Saturday. Bloomfield reached the Elite Eight of the NCAA Division II Tournament last season.

"We've got the best field we've had coming in for our tournament," Lee said. "We've told them we need to play possession by possession."

Print Friendly Version