Box Score Â
Playing in its first G-MAC tilt of the season, the Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team used exceptional first-half offense and a key defensive stretch late to dispatch conference foe Cedarville 88-58 on Saturday in Cedarville, Ohio.
The Panthers (13-2, 1-0 in G-MAC) shot 62 percent from the field in the first 20 minutes to build a commanding 44-27 halftime lead.
Junior guard Ken-Jah Bosley's layup at the 15:58 mark of the first half put KWC ahead 9-8, and the Panthers didn't trail the rest of the way.
Cedarville guard J.C. Faubion's jump shot cut the lead to 24-20 with eight minutes left in the half, but KWC responded with a 20-2 run during the next six minutes to build a substantial lead. Bosley's 3-pointer gave the Panthers its largest lead of the half at 44-22 with 2:20 left in the period.
However, the Yellow Jackets (5-9, 0-2) didn't go away after intermission.
Easton Bazzoli's layup with 12:52 left in the game sparked a 15-3 Cedarville run that cut KWC's lead to single digits (67-58) for the first time in the second half.
From there, though, it was all Panthers.
Bosley and Jordan Jacks combined to score 18 of KWC's 21 points in the final 7:34, and the Panthers held Cedarville scoreless during that stretch to preserve their first conference win of the season.
"It speaks to how important defense is for our team," KWC coach Happy Osborne said. "We can be very, very good defensively if we want to be."
The Panthers forced Cedarville into 17 turnovers, which resulted in 18 points. KWC also held the edge in rebounding (35-27), assists (16-7), second-chance points (12-7) and paint scoring (44-34).
Bosley finished with a game-high 24 points on 8-of-15 shooting, and Jacks added 18 points and 11 rebounds for KWC. C.J. Blackwell knocked down 4-of-5 3-point attempts on the way to 14 points, while Devin Langford added nine points. Marcus Fillyaw chipped in six points, six assists and four rebounds.
"Devin Langford struggled a little bit defensively today, but we wouldn't be where we were today without him," Osborne said. "I thought Basil Deveaux — let me tell you what Basil did, he changed the game in the first half. The most underrated guy I've ever coached, and people that don't know basketball don't know what he does for our team. And Ken-Jah was awesome, just awesome."
Osborne also praised senior big man Jermaine Morgan (eight points, 10 rebounds, four blocks) and senior guard Tamron Manning (nine points, four assists, four rebounds) for their contributions.
"Best day as a Panther," Osborne said of Morgan. "Eight points and 10 rebounds, that's impressive in 28 minutes. Kept balls alive and four blocked shots, protected the rim — which is something we need. I thought it was his best day since he's been here, and I thought it was Tamron Manning's best day since he's been here. They were both really, really good."
Faubion led the Yellow Jackets with 23 points, while Bazzoli finished with 14 points.
Though Cedarville was just 2-of-13 from long range and went scoreless for nearly the final eight minutes, it converted on 45.6 percent of shots from the field — a number that Osborne would like to see his team's defense improve upon when it faces G-MAC foe Alderson Broaddus on the road Thursday.
"They went by us, around us, through us," Osborne said. "I'm not complaining (about a win), but we've got to get better defensively in about four days. We've got to pick up our defense and guard the drive better. But that's something we'll continue to work on."
