Box Score
Kentucky Wesleyan College had no problems with Oakland City on Wednesday night.
Behind 23 points and 20 rebounds from sophomore forward Devin Langford, KWC blew out the Mighty Oaks, 101-65, in a non-conference game at the Sportscenter.
"When we finally played a little defense, we did all right," first-year coach Happy Osborne said. "I thought Devin played a pretty good game. Good effort for him. That's a good rebounding effort, no doubt."
The 6-foot-7 transfer from Illinois was 10-of-18 shooting and also had five assists and one block in 30 minutes of action.
"I just came out and did what I should be doing every game," Langford said of his career night. "I was just in the flow of the game. The ball just seemed to come to me. It was a real good night."
KWC (12-7) had similar success as a team. The Panthers led from start to finish and shot 47 percent from the floor. They also crushed the Mighty Oaks (13-5) on the boards, 53-26.
A 10-3 run midway through the first half made it a 26-12 score in favor of KWC to create the initial separation and the Panthers only expanded the lead from there.
KWC eventually led by as many as 36. Langford not only provided the stats, but also the flare. The athletic wing player had three impressive dunks, including two that came on alley-oops.
"I look at every game the same," he said. "It's just a matter of coming out and being more consistent – just bringing it every time and working hard."
Defensively, KWC forced Oakland City into 16 turnovers while only committing four as a team. The Panthers coupled that with 25 assists.
Osborne's goal at the beginning of the season was to hold opponents to 39 percent shooting. Oakland City shot 39.3 percent Wednesday night.
"Hallelujah," Osborne said. "Now let's do it on the road in a conference game."
Donovan Johnson also turned in a double with 18 points and 10 rebounds and Ken-Jah Bosley added 14 points. Patrick Neel was one rebound shy of a double-double, finishing with 11 points and nine rebounds.
Osborne noted that he was impressed by Lonnie Hayes, typically more of a scorer, finishing with just seven points and instead tallying seven assists with no turnovers.
Oakland City finished with four players in double figures, led by Matt Lucas and Kendall Wittmer with 15 points apiece. Ryan Helfert had finished with 13 points and seven assists. The Mighty Oaks also made 10-of-21 (47.6 percent) 3-pointers.
That was enough to leave Langford somewhat displeased.
"Our goal was to keep them to 59 (points)," he said. "We did a lot of good stuff, but we could have been a lot better."
KWC now has a week-long break before a road trip that includes games against Salem International and Ohio Valley.
Osborne will give his team the rest of the week off, aside from Friday, to rest and will start back with practice on Monday. Wednesday's result was exactly what he was hoping for heading into this stretch. Now the key is to sustain the momentum of winning 11 of the last 13 games.
"The thing they've got to do is decide to be 'we,' not 'me,'" Osborne said. "That's the decision they've got to make. If they do that, then we've got a chance to do OK on the road. If they don't, then it'll come back to bite us."
