Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan led almost the entire game and held St. Joseph's, a team averaging 94.6 points per game heading into Wednesday's game, to under 80 points.
Still, after a 102-79 victory over the Pumas at the Sportscenter, coach Happy Osborne wasn't ready to get too excited about the win.
"The goal was in the 60s. I'm not happy with 79," said KWC's first-year defensive-minded coach. "We quit guarding late."
Nevertheless, the effort was good enough for KWC's sixth win in a row and bumped the Panthers' record to 7-5 on the season heading into Saturday's rematch at Southern Indiana.
The Panthers got a balanced effort scoring-wise, including
four players in double figures, and shot a blistering 57.8 percent from the field while scoring 56 points in the paint.
KWC also forced 15 turnovers and turned those into 25 points while also winning the rebounding battle by a convincing 45-21 margin.
KWC used an 18-6 run to close out the final 5:25 of the first half to take a 50-32 lead into halftime.
After a sluggish start to the second half, James Herzog buried a 3 at the 14:35 mark to make it a 57-38 game to keep the Panthers out by a convincing margin. The Pumas (3-6) never got closer than 14 points and trailed by as many as 27 in the second half.
KWC got a solid second-half performance from sophomore forward Devin Langford, a 6-foot-7 transfer from Illinois who missed the first 10 games of the season due to suspension.
He played 10 minutes in the second half and scored all 12 points of points in the second half on 4-of-6 shooting, including a couple poweful dunks. He also grabbed four rebounds in his second game back from suspension.
"I think Devin kind of showed glimpses of what he can do," Osborne said.
After Langford played just three frustrating minutes in the first half, Osborne started running plays for him in the second half.
Langford said he simply started to feel more comfortable and was able to relax.
"I felt like it was in the first half, it was all mental," he said. "I was thinking too much. I just had free myself up and play. In the second half, that's what I tried to do. Of course, you know, he's a coach that wants you to play hard every time and I've got to focus on doing that."
Even with Langford's breakout performance, KWC had to make sure it continued to stop St. Joe's in the second half.
Osborne thought the Pumas would take a lot of 3s, and they did just that. They were 10-of-27 on 3s for 37 percent and Osborne wasn't pleased with that figure.
"I wanted us to guard dribble penetration. ...We've got to do better," he said. "I wanted us to guard dribble penetration to limit open 3s. That's what I wanted."
KWC was 20-of-24 at the free throw line, while St. Joe's was 11-of-13. The Panthers also got 60 points from the bench compared to 26 from St. Joe's.
Junior Patrick Neel led in scoring KWC with 15 points and also pulled down eight rebounds. Senior Dominique Dawson scored 14 points with six rebounds and senior Lonnie Hayes had 14 points with three rebounds.
Senior Donovan Johnson, also playing in his second game back from suspension, was one point away from a double-double with nine points and 11 rebounds.
"In a perfect world, I'd like to have 12 guys that can play," Osborne said of his team's balance. "I'd like for guys to sit on that bench and think, 'that fool might put me in. I better be ready.' That's a perfect world. I think we're gaining."
Freshman guard Ken-Jah Bosley suffered a hip pointer near the end of the first half and didn't play the entire second half. Osborne said that was for precautionary reasons and added that Bosley was mad he wasn't allowed to play in the second half.
Osborne said he simply didn't want to risk it and promised that Bosley will be ready to play Saturday against No. 9 USI.
Speaking of Saturday's game, Osborne wasn't ready to say that he feels better about facing USI (7-0) this time around with his team being a little deeper.
"I think we're a heavy underdog. We've got to fight," he said. "We've got to find a way to rebound. They're the best rebounding team in Division II. Do I feel better? I'll have to tell you (on Saturday) at about 3 o'clock."
