Undefeated Cougars roll on road with 99-72 win over OCU
The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men’s basketball team (6-0) remained undefeated after a 99-72 road win at Ohio Christian University (0-3) on Tuesday, Nov. 9.
MVNU dominated the game from start to finish. The Cougars jumped out to a quick 13-3 lead just a little over three minutes into the game. MVNU closed the first half strong, ending it with a 55-33 lead. MVNU remained in control the rest of the ballgame, outscoring the Trailblazers 44-39 in the second half. MVNU continued its stretch of hot-shooting games as it finished 35-for-56 from the field (62.5%). MVNU cashed in from three, hitting 13 of them at a 52% mark.
Sophomore Clay Hilliard had a game-high 24 points on 9-for-12 shooting from the floor. He was 6-for-8 from three. Mount Gilead grad, junior Kyle Kegley finished with 18 points on 6-for-7 shooting. He was 2-for-3 from deep and grabbed eight rebounds for MVNU. Freshman Carter Jones, from Centerburg, and junior Eric McLaughlin had 13 and 11 points, respectively. Jones pulled down six rebounds, and McLaughlin had five. Gichairo Berika brought energy off the bench for MVNU, finishing with 10 points and eight rebounds. He also blocked two shots and dished out two assists.
Coach Jared Ronai said, “All road wins are hard to come by. In stretches tonight,we really shared the ball and executed defensively. Still, some youthful mistakes we will continue to improve upon. Looking forward to getting better tomorrow.”
Ladies drop season opener at Heidelberg
The Kenyon College women’s basketball team opened the 2021-22 season Tuesday, Nov. 9, but the nonconference contest at Heidelberg University closed with the Ladies suffering a 68-53 defeat at the hands of the Student Princes.
Heidelberg opened play with leads of 8-4 and 14-6, and Kenyon went cold over the final four minutes of the quarter, connecting on just one free throw, and fell behind 18-7 after the first 10 minutes of play.
In the second quarter, things got better for the Ladies, who shot 43.8 percent (7-for-16) and more than doubled their first-quarter output. At the same time, the Student Princes got better as well. The host team dropped in 26 second-quarter points and got to halftime with a 44-26 advantage.
Madelyn Anderson nailed a pair of three-pointers for Kenyon in that second quarter, while Grace Connery chipped in with four points. The Ladies never got closer than a dozen points the rest of the way, but they did play a more even second half and outscored Heidelberg 27-24 over the final 20 minutes.
Connery finished with a team-high 15 points to go along with five rebounds and an assist. She was 4-of-9 from three-point range. Katie Orefice added 12 points to the Kenyon total, while Anderson tacked on nine points and five rebounds. Greta Propp scored just six, but led the Ladies with 11 rebounds.
