Box Score
Things are starting to click for the Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team.
The Panthers used a strong a defensive effort in the second half to hold off Illinois-Springfield, 71-60, on Tuesday at the Sportscenter for their third straight win.
"I think we're becoming more and more of a team," said coach
Happy Osborne, whose team held UIS to 25 second half points. "Is it where I want it? Not close. But 25 points in a half? I don't care who it is, that's pretty good."
KWC (4-5) was able to limit UIS in the second half by defending the perimeter better. After hitting 7-of-10 3-pointers in the first half, the Prairie Stars (2-4) were 0-for-6 in the second half.
The Panthers used a 7-0 run to start the second half to build a 44-35 cushion, the Lucas Barker found fellow Australian teammate Luke Shelley for a 3-pointer that put KWC up, 47-35, with 14:10 left to play.
KWC led by as many as 16.
Switching from zone to man-to-man was critical to the team's defensive effectiveness in the second half, Osborne said.
"We started out in zone trying to slow them down," he said. "Zone is to keep
Dom (Dawson) and those guys out of foul trouble because we're not big and we've got to make them stand in there a little bit."
As a result, UIS made just eight shots from the floor in the second half and finished shooting 40.8 percent. KWC, meanwhile, was 24-of-53 from the field for the game and was 19-of-24 at the free throw line.
Only one UIS player, Jacob Williams, finished in double figures. He had 15 points.
Freshman Ken-Jah Bosley led the way for KWC with 20 points, while Lonnie Hayes finished 16 points, four rebounds and a steal. Dawson had 14 points and nine rebounds.
Osborne was especially impressed with junior Patrick Neel, who scored nine points, grabbed 12 rebounds and blocked two shots in 23 minutes off the bench.
"I thought Patrick Neel didn't play good – I thought he played great," Osborne said. "He did everything. Just hustled and played to win."
It's the third straight game in which Neel has played at least 20 minutes, and the Panthers have won each. He said the difference has been tougher team defense and every player knowing where to be on the floor.
"When you have a losing streak like that and you come back on three wins, it feels pretty good," Neel said. "We're on a three-game winning streak right and coming off that losing streak, it feels pretty good to get three wins in a row. Our defense is getting better and hopefully, when conference comes up, we can keep winning."
It will be coming up soon as Great Midwest Athletic Conference foe Ohio Valley visits the Sportscenter Thursday night for KWC's conference opener.
"We need people to come out Thursday," Osborne said. "It's a new season starting Thursday. I don't know how you can't respect how hard these kids have worked. More than anything, I'm happy for them because they're finding out, 'yeah, we can win.'"
