Dec. 27, 2007
Richmond, Ind. -- After suffering some potentially devastating losses to national powers Indiana Wesleyan University (NAIA) and Northern Kentucky University (NCAA Division II), IU East men's basketball was led to victory by its defense. With their 121-53 victory over Boyce College last Friday (Dec. 21), IU East moved to 5-8 on the season.
The same thing that has plagued them all season helped set the tone early as they played an energetic, disruptive trapping defense. The Bulldogs were also forced into taking a lot of rushed shots which contributed to their 28.6% shooting percentage on the night. It also allowed IU East to make a quick transition to the offensive end where outstanding and unselfish ball movement translated into wide-open shots and easy baskets.
IU East shot 55.8% in the first half and knocked down 10 3-pointers as they were out to a 61-24 lead at the break. In the second half, they continued to shoot well from the field as they knocked down 51.2% of their shots. However, the unselfishness showed as they recorded 34 assists on 46 baskets for the evening.
The IU East defense held Boyce to 22-77 from the field including 4-28 from 3-point range. They also forced 26 turnovers which led to 18 steals for the evening. IU East also out-rebounded Boyce 54-41 for the game. Boyce was led by 17 points from Greg Gibson, and 12 points and 18 rebounds by Michael Frost.
Joe Ramey set an IU East record with 61 points for the game as he was 21-33 including 13-22 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed 9 rebounds, had 3 assists, 1 block, and 2 steals. Point guard Buster Voils was equally as impressive as he had 19 assists to only 3 turnovers. Cory Sitton had a double-double for IU East with 24 points and 12 rebounds. He also added an assist, 2 blocks, and 3 steals.
Bryant Withers played well inside as he had 10 rebounds to go with 11 points, which included a thunderous two-handed dunk in the lane. DeCoreo Edwards had 9 points, 10 rebounds, and 5 steals tonight. Freshman Brenton Burris was one assist shy of his second triple-double of the season as he had 12 points, 10 rebounds, 9 assists, and 5 steals.
"When we're playing like we did tonight, we are on the top of our game and it's hard to stop us especially when we're moving the ball and knocking down shots," said Sitton. "Defense was a huge key tonight as it should be every night and everyone stepped up and played hard. We went into the game with a lot of confidence and it showed."
"Our defense was really solid tonight and we moved the ball really well. Coach Hester did a great job of bringing the team together after all of the problems and obstacles that we have faced this year," added Voils. Ramey added, "The most important key tonight was our defense. We shot the ball well and played really good defense on their (Boyce) best player tonight."
A very impressed Coach Hester said, "I'm really proud of the team play that we showed tonight. We had 34 assists and it looked like the guys were having fun and that is one of the things that we needed going into the break. Some of the individual numbers will jump out at you but it was a great team effort all the way around, especially defensively."
IU East (5-8) is off for Christmas break until the 29th when they take on the Golden Eagles of Cincinnati Christian University at the Tiernan Center at 2 PM. IU East fell to Cincinnati Christian 106-102 in their first meeting of the season.
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