Box Score
For the second time this month, the Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team came away with a victory over nonconference opponent Oakland City.
It wasn't the same as the 36-point win the Panthers experienced on Jan. 7, but KWC dominated inside offensively and used its depth to eventually wear down the Mighty Oaks for a 69-52 victory on Wednesday night in Oakland City.
Much of the Panthers' shooting prowess can be attributed to the 36-14 scoring advantage they held in the paint.
Oakland City (12-4) got 17 points from Lawrence Kinney and 14 points from Jonathan Sulak, but the Mighty Oaks shot just 36 percent (18-of-50) from the field and 26.3 percent (5-of-19) from long distance.
"We talked a lot about their shooters going into the game, making sure we contested shots and making a couple of these guys drive instead," said KWC assistant coach Brett Miller. "We did a pretty good job on a couple of those guys, but then a couple started to get hot too. We've got to make sure we make those changes and defensive rotations to make sure that doesn't happen. And give (Oakland City) credit, they ran a lot more curls and a lot more flare action and a lot more stuff than they have all year."
After outscoring the Mighty Oaks 24-0 in the paint and 8-0 on fast breaks in the first half, KWC held a 38-27 lead at the break. The Panthers then opened the second half on an 8-2 run for a 16-point advantage.
Oakland City responded with a 10-0 run of its own during the next three minutes, cutting the lead to 45-39 on Kinney's layup at the 13:21 mark. The Mighty Oaks couldn't get any closer than six points for the remainder of the contest, however, and the Panthers pushed the lead back to double-digits on Bosley's 3-pointer with 7:55 left to play.
"There were definitely some shaky moments," Miller said. "Our team did a very good job of gutting it out and really hunkering down when we needed to. It's one of those things that when we needed a stop or we needed to pull away late, that's exactly what we did. We did a very good job of mixing up our defenses, going 2-3 as well as man, and closing out on shooters."
Miller also credited the Panthers' depth for the victory, as 11 KWC players saw action, while Oakland City had four players who spent at least 39 minutes on the floor. The Panthers' bench outscored Oakland City's reserves, 19-0.
"That's what we're built on," Miller said. "We are comfortable with any of our 11 guys playing at any time. We feel like we can go out and play all 11 of them. We back our guys 100 percent, and that really is a huge key for us, now and moving forward. Nobody in our conference can play 11 guys, and that's something we really pride ourselves on."
KWC will have the next three days off to rest before starting preparation for conference action Feb. 7 against Trevecca in Nashville.
"We've got an 11-day break," Miller said. "We'll get a couple days of rest, focus up again and hit the second leg of conference play."
