Todd Ryals

Wildcats Continue to Be Clutch

2/6/2017 11:51:00 PM

By: LC Sports Information

Box Score

The Louisiana College Wildcat men's basketball team continued its stretch of clutch performances over the past five days on Monday night against the East Texas Baptist University Tigers. The Wildcats once again used a strong defensive showing and timely shots in the second half to pick up the 64-57 victory over the rival Tigers. The win moves LC to within 1.0 games of the fourth and final playoff spot in the American Southwest Conference tournament, with two conference games remaining.

From the very beginning of the game the Wildcats used the game plan that had worked in their past two home victories, tight defense and a methodical offense. The Wildcats and Tigers went back and forth through the first five minutes of the game until a smooth dump off pass from Raheem Regis to Mike Davis for the easy layup gave LC a 10-9 lead over their ASC rivals. It would be a lead the Wildcats would not surrender the rest of the half, outscoring ETBU 20-13 the rest of the half, leading to the 30-22 lead at the break.

Although the Tigers shot better than 50% from the field in the half, they were only able to take a total of 18 shots opposed to the Wildcats 27 first half attempts. The major differences came from the free throw line, on the glass, and in the turnover battle. ETBU went 1-for-4 from the line in the half and LC made 6-of-8 of their free shots. The Wildcats won the turnover battle 11-7 and out rebounded the Tigers 16-10 in the first half.

During halftime Louisiana College honored senior Steve Evans, for his stellar career as a Wildcat. Evans suffered a second concussion this season in the Wildcats victory over UT Tyler on Saturday and will not be able to play the remainder of the season or any potential tournament games. The four-year letter winner from Natchitoches scored 797 total points and pulled down 587 rebounds for LC. He was presented with a gift from Louisiana College President Dr. Rick Brewer and Athletic Director Dennis Dunn on behalf of the entire athletic department and student body.

The eight point halftime lead quickly turned into a double digit advantage as LC came out of the half making four of their first six shots adn going ahead 39-28 at the 16:07 mark of the second half. As fast as the Wildcats pulled away, the Tigers closed the gap just as quickly, putting together a 14-0 run over the next six minutes of play to take the lead for the first time since early in the first half at 42-39. Regis finally ended the Tigers run with a layup, pulling the Wildcats back within a point with just over half of the final period to play.

With the game tied at 46 at the under four minute media timeout, the Wildcats star freshman guard made back-to-back clutch shots. Coming out of the timeout the Wildcats had two seconds remaining on the shot clock when Taylan Grogan got the inbounds pass from Travis Schultz outside the arc, turned and nailed a 3-pointer with three defenders in his face. After a miss on the other end by the Tigers, Grogan knocked down another long range shot from the left wing to put the Wildcats up six with 3:24 to go.

For just the fifth time this season the Wildcats were able to win the free throw battle which allowed them to pick up their third straight conference win. LC made 7-of-10 free throws in the final minute of the half while ETBU went 2-for-4 from the field thanks to the Wildcats pesky defensive pressure and 1-for-2 from the line. For the game ETBU missed 11 free throws compared to eight misses by the Wildcats.

Three Wildcats went for double figures in the game with Timothy Stokes and Taylan Grogan leading the way with 14 points each. Raheem Regis finished with 11 points in the game, one rebound shy of another double-double, the fourth time this season he has finished with nine rebounds and double digit points in a game. Stokes shot 8-of-10 from the free throw line and dished out six assists to add to his team lead in the category.

The Wildcats continue their home stand on Thursday night as they host UT Dallas Comets, a team they lost to 69-54 just over two weeks ago. LC is currently 1.0 games behind ETBU for the final tournament spot in the East and 2.0 game back of UTD, with two conference games remaining. ETBU will host Ozarks on Thursday and UTD on Saturday to finish their 2017 ASC schedule, while the Comets still have four conference games remaining including Thursday's matchup with the Wildcats. LC is very much in the mix for the final tournament spot but will still need help to get there. Tip off Thursday night is at 7:30 after the conclusion of the women's game. Stay connected to Louisiana College men's basketball by following @LC_MBSK on Twitter of liking LC Athletics on Facebook.

Print Friendly Version