Cougars men’s, women’s basketball teams lose in quarterfinals
The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men’s and women’s basketball teams saw their seasons come to an end as both teams lost Crossroads league semifinals matches this week. The women lost at Taylor University, 82-70, and the men were beaten by Grace, 82-62.
The women (14-16, 8-9) saw their season come to an end on Tuesday at Taylor University (15-12, 8-6). After trailing by just one after the first quarter, MVNU’s offense stalled in the second frame. MVNU took many tough shots in the period, which allowed Taylor to capitalize and extend its lead. At the half, MVNU trailed by a score of 39-27 while shooting just 27% in the first half.
MVNU came out of the locker room with a lot more energy in the second half as it was able to cut the Taylor lead to just 54-51 with 1:28 left in the third. However, Taylor responded to MVNU’s second-half rally, as it was able to stretch the lead back out the rest of the way. The Lady Cougars were unable to get stops down the stretch when the team needed them most and eventually saw their season end on the road at Odle Court.
MVNU shot just 35.8% from the floor compared to 45.2% for Taylor. The Lady Cougars also had a hard time controlling the boards as they were outrebounded 41-35 on the night.
Rylee Pireu tied for a game-high 18 points. Pireu was 6-for-12 from the field and 4-for-7 from deep. She also grabbed seven boards. Sage Brannon had 14 points and grabbed a team-high nine rebounds for MVNU. Brannon dished out four assists. Elizabeth Monk had 10 points, five rebounds, two assists and two steals, and Lily Krieger had 10 points and four rebounds for the Lady Cougars.
On Feb. 23 in Ariel Arena, the Cougar men (20-10, 11-7) fell to the Grace College Lancers (23-8, 11-7) in the Crossroads League Tournament quarterfinals. The Cougars started strong, jumping out to a four-point lead six minutes into the game. However, the Lancers started to find a rhythm offensively, forcing the Cougars to play catch-up the rest of the night.
Going into the break, the Cougars found themselves only down by four, but Grace locked down on defense coming out of halftime, forcing many MVNU turnovers. For the game, MVNU committed 16 turnovers to the Lancers’ nine. As the MVNU offense began to stall, Grace quickly began to pull away and stretch its lead. While MVNU shot 49% from the floor, the Lancer offense hit a blistering 54.1% of its shots on the night.
Kade Ruegsegger and Kyle Kegley each scored 18 points for the Cougars. Ruegsegger shot 6-for-11 from the field and 5-for-6 from the free-throw stripe. Kegley picked up a double-double, grabbing 13 rebounds with his 18 points. Gichairo Berika was a menace on defense with three blocks. He contributed offensively with six points in 15 minutes.
The Cougars will now wait and see if they can get an at-large bid into the NAIA National Tournament. The NAIA Men’s Basketball National Championship Bracket reveal takes place on March 3.
Seven Kenyon field hockey scholars receive honors, school gets team award
For the 25th consecutive season, the Kenyon College Ladies were named a winner of the National Field Hockey Coaches Association (NFHCA) National Academic Team Award.
The NFHCA National Academic Team Award recognizes programs that earned a team grade point average of 3.0 or better during the fall semester of the current academic year. The 2021 Ladies easily surpassed that mark, posting a combined grade point average of 3.59.
Prior to earning the team award, the Ladies had 23 players named to the 2021 NFHCA National Academic Squad, which honors individuals with a grade point average of 3.30 or better. Seven of those 23 went on to be named NFHCA Scholars of Distinction for possessing a grade point average of 3.9 or better.
The NFHCA’s 2021 Scholars of Distinction list named seven Kenyon College field hockey players. For the Ladies, Justine Cole, Payton Doan, Jacqueline McKeown and Isabella Meneguzzi received the award for the first time. Abby Timmins and Lydia Turk collected the honor for the second time, and Anna Shaulis saw her name on the list for the fourth time.
Last date for Mount Vernon Babe Ruth League Registration
There is only one date left to register for 2022 Babe Ruth League baseball. The final registration is scheduled for Saturday, March 5, from noon to 2 p.m. The Mount Vernon Babe Ruth Association, doing business as Knox Babe Ruth League of Knox County has scheduled in-person registration for 13-to-16-year olds, at the Babe Ruth field announcer’s booth at Memorial Park on Mount Vernon Avenue.
New player tryouts will take place Saturday, March 26, from 9 a.m. to noon.
