Box Score
PINEVILLE, LA - Always a coach of great perspective, Gene Rushing knew very well the significance of both his team's victory and its impressive American Southwest Conference start following Louisiana College's 60-53 win over Mary Hardin-Baylor Thursday night at H.O. West Fieldhouse.
 
With the win, the Wildcats improved to 4-0 in conference play (4-2 overall) and defeated a Cru team (3-4) that was the runner-up in the NCAA Division III Tournament last year.
 
"This is a very solid win for us," Rushing said. "To end the year before break with a really good win is very good for this basketball team."
 
With wins over Concordia and UMHB, the Wildcats seem to be serving notice that they will be a force to be reckoned with in the ASC despite being a team that is still predominately made up of freshmen and sophomores.
 
"This is a very young team," Rushing said. "They're playing hard, and we're trying to mesh players with no experience with players with only one year of college ball."
 
Thursday night, that meshing continued to take shape. The Wildcats founds themselves in a battle, tied at 42 with 14:35 to play. But as is becoming their form, LC used a combination of good defense and clutch shooting to get the win.
 
Perhaps the key sequence came on successive plays when Anthony Gaines (12 points, 9 rebounds) grabbed a defensive rebound and drove the length of the court before dishing to Trey Ray for a basket that got LC to within one and 51-50.
 
Following a defensive stop, the Wildcats worked the shot clock to its final seconds before Kevin Cottonham (10 points, 9 rebounds, 8 assists) drove, scored and was fouled. His 3-point play gave the Wildcats a 53-51 lead.
 
After UMHB tied the game, the Wildcats closed the final three minutes without giving up a single point. In the meantime, another Cottonham drive and a Doc Welch (12 points, 6 rebounds) 3 with 1:27 left gave LC the lead for good, 58-53. Welch closed the scoring by hitting two free throws in the final moments.
 
In a game that was otherwise close, perhaps the most impressive stat of the night was the fact the Wildcats held the Cru to just 16 total points in the second half. Mary Hardin-Baylor made just 6-of-34 shots (17-percent) in the final 20 minutes.
 
"I thought our defense won the game tonight," Rushing said. "Only giving up 16 points… that's pretty good. You don't do that every day. They're so good, and they're so well-coached."
 
Offensive, the Wildcats were led by Kevin Lewis' 16 points, while Mary Hardin-Baylor got 18 from James Allen. Kitrick Bell was the Cru's only other double-digit scorer with 11.
 
The Wildcats will have some time to rest before the heart of their ASC schedule begins. LC's next game will not be until Jan. 2 when they travel to UT-Dallas followed by a Jan. 4 matchup in Abilene, Texas against Hardin-Simmons.
 
"We know we still have an awful lot to improve on," Rushing said. "But, we're starting to get better every day."
 
A win over last year's national runner-up is proof of that.