Box Score
Short on players, No. 9 Kentucky Wesleyan nonetheless made short work of Salem International.
Playing without three key cogs, the Panthers took early control, withstood a second-half run and ran away from the Fighting Tigers 93-67 before a sparse gathering on Saturday afternoon at the Sportscenter.
KWC improved to 8-0 heading into Thursday's Great Lakes Valley Conference opener against visiting Maryville.
"This was a program win," Panthers head coach Todd Lee said. "We called on players to step up, and they stepped up. For us to be successful in this game, that had to happen.
"It's a big victory in a lot of ways, not the least of which is we got contributions from every player on a day when we weren't at full strength as a team — that's huge."
The verdict was determined by halftime.
KWC raced to a 19-5 lead over cold-shooting Salem in the first nine minutes and simply dominated the first half — limiting the Tigers to 30 percent shooting and winning the rebounding battle decisively (25-10) on the way to a 45-21 advantage by intermission.
In the opening half, eight Panthers reached the scoring column, and KWC's bench produced 23 points.
Moreover, Wesleyan drained 7-of-10 shots from 3-point range, including a 3-of-3 performance in nine minutes by senior
guard Kreig Oxley, who as late as Friday afternoon was not expected to play (turf toe).
"Kreig came in and gave us a big lift in the first half," Lee said. "I decided not to play him in the second half. We were in control of the game, and I want to give him as much recovery time as possible between now and Thursday."
The Panthers continued to dominate during the first 10 minutes of the second half, and a three-point conversion at 10:26 by freshman guard Jacob Griffin provided KWC its largest lead, 71-34.
To its credit, Salem did not quit.
In fact, the Tigers went on an impressive spurt of their own, scoring from inside and out in a 25-6 run over the next six minutes to pull within 80-62.
The Panthers regained their footing over the final four minutes, however, to win handily.
"We got tired and a little sloppy late in the second half," Lee conceded.
The Panthers were without center Dazmond Starke and guard Rico Ferguson (suspended after being ejected in KWC's win over Union (Tenn.) on Dec. 17), as well as guard Cornbread Walker (ankle injury).Freshman point guard Lucas Barker led the way for KWC, finishing with 15 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and three steals.
"Lucas is so mentally and physically tough out there," Lee said.
Dominque Dawson produced 16 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, J.D. Danforth had 14 points and nine rebounds, Patrick Neel had eight points, six rebounds and four assists, and both Griffin and Donovan Johnson added 10 points.
In addition, 6-foot-4 James Herzog — forced to play the small forward slot — made 4-of-5 floor shots and grabbed four rebounds. Luke Shelley added three assists.Salem International (7-7), which hit 53 percent of its second-half floor shots, was paced by Walter Brock's 15 points.
The Panthers open the Great Lakes Valley Conference season on Thursday when they host Maryville at 7:30.
