OWENSBORO, Ky. – The Kentucky Wesleyan men's basketball team earned their fourth consecutive win with a 77-68 defeat of IU Southeast Friday inside the Sportscenter.
The Panthers moved to 8-4 overall (2-2 G-MAC) with the win. IUS fell to 9-4 overall (1-0 RSC).
LaVonte Harris began the game with a three-pointer, but the Grenadiers responded with the next seven points to give the Wesleyan faithful a taste of the ensuing battle. The Panthers responded with an 8-0 run, highlighted by three-pointers from Armandas Plintauskas and Caleb Mackrey, to take the lead back at 13-7.
Later, after IUS scored the next six points to tie the score at 13, Wesleyan had another strong response. KWC recorded an 11-0 run, headlined by three-pointers from Plintauskas, Macrey, and Jorge Sanchez-Ramos, to grab early control at 24-13.
The Panthers led by as much as 14 in the first half and were able to maintain that double-digit advantage as Mackrey connected with Fatih Huyuk for a layup at the buzzer to send Wesleyan into the break up 35-25.
Coming out of halftime, the Grenadiers started to slowly chip away and managed to fight their way to just a two-point deficit at the under-12 timeout.
It was a close game the rest of the afternoon, and the Panthers had a timely response each time IUS came close. With just under eight minutes remaining and Wesleyan leading by two, Mackrey scored an and-one and JJ Faulkner connected with Huyuk for a layup to stretch the advantage back to seven.
Later, after the Grenadiers came within three, Huyuk and Harris tallied back-to-back layups to go back up seven and IUS was never able to get any closer in the Panthers' 77-68 victory.
Mackrey finished with a team-high 17 points and added six rebounds and three assists. Harris had a do-it-all day with 16 points, six rebounds, seven assists, three blocked shots, and two steals.
Huyuk tallied his second straight double-double with 12 points and 12 rebounds on top of three steals. Sanchez-Ramos (11 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, and two steals) and Plintauskas (10 points, two rebounds, one steal) joined those three in double digits.
Wesleyan now heads to Christmas break before heading on the road for their next game. The Panthers will take on the Yellow Jackets of Cedarville on Saturday, January 3, at 12:00 PM live on FloCollege.
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