Free throws help Cardinals to victory in final minutes

February 20, 2006 —

by Brandon Kish

Freshman Luke Laser drives to the lane against Wayne State on Saturday. Laser made four three-pointers in the second half and finished with 15 points in the Cardinals' 70-66 win.

by Brandon Kish

Sophomore Brandon Ball is fouled on a drive to the hoop against Wayne State. The point guard played 26 minutes with just one turnover after averaing just 9.4 minutes all season.

Sophomore Chris Johnston scored 21 points and the SVSU men's basketball team turned the ball over just seven times in defeating Wayne State 70-66 on Saturday.

The Cardinals did not turn the ball over in the second half, allowing them to outscore the Warriors by 11 and erase their seven-point halftime deficit. SVSU turned up the defensive pressure in the half, giving up just 25 points after watching the Warriors shoot 57 percent for 41 points in the first half.

"We simply played harder in the second half," said coach Jamie Matthews.

The Warriors were held to 10-of-28 shooting (35.7 percent) in the second half, but it was the Cardinals' free-throw shooting that led them to the win.

SVSU also shot under 40 percent in the half, but hit 14-of-18 free throws, including 9-of-13 in the last five minutes.

Matthews said that while he did address some things in the locker room at halftime, it was his team that took it upon themselves to play harder.

SVSU held the Warriors to 3-of-9 shooting in the first 10 minutes of the half in running up a 22-7 run to take an eight-point lead. Wayne State, however, came back with a 14-2 run of its own, taking a four-point lead with four and a half minutes left.

The Cardinals, who had blown lead after lead throughout the season, were able to come back, eventually tying the game with just under two minutes to play and making 6-of-8 free throws down the stretch for the victory.

Matthews told his team before the game that it would win if it were able to take care of the ball and get shots at the rim, and that is what the Cardinals did. Junior point guard Andrae Betts dished out eight assists and had just one turnover, while sophomore Brandon Ball played 26 minutes and had one turnover.

Ball, who came into the game averaging just 9.4 minutes per game after starting 24 games as a freshman last year, impressed Matthews.

"He's been able to persevere," Matthews said. "It's something we all could learn from. We didn't have high expectations for him, but he played very well tonight."

Freshman Luke Laser was another key to the Cardinals' comeback, shooting 4-of-7 from the field, including 4-of-4 from the arc, in the second half. Laser finished with 15 points and had zero turnovers. Betts added 10 points and had five steals, while Johnston shot 10-of-11 from the free throw line and grabbed a team-high six rebounds.

Wayne State, which dressed just eight players, was led by senior Herb Goliday, who scored 21 points on 9-of-18 shooting. Junior Kris Krzyminksi added 14 points, seven assists and five rebounds, while junior Jeffrey Ferguson scored 13 and grabbed a game-high seven boards.

The Cardinals, who lead the North Division in free throw percentage, finished the game 19-of-25 from the line, while Wayne State, which leads the GLIAC just above SVSU, shot 11-of-13.

The win was SVSU's third in its last four games and improved the Cardinals' record to 4-12 in the conference and 9-16 overall.

That winning streak figures to be challenged on Wednesday when the Cardinals visit No. 14 Grand Valley. The Lakers, 14-2 in the GLIAC and 22-3 overall, have yet to lock up the North Division's top seed.

The Cardinals finish their season at Northwood on Saturday for a 3 p.m. tipoff.