Some wins are better than others. This one was nice to get. After losing the first 6 road games of the
season, Spring Arbor University's men's basketball team improved their road
record to 5-7 on the year, and 11-7 overall.
The Cougars traveled to Upland, IN to take on the Taylor University
Trojans in an MCC Conference battle with Spring Arbor (11-7, 3-1) coming out on
top 52-49 over Taylor (11-6, 1-3).
The contest was close the entire ball game as neither team
could get a double digit lead at any point in the ball game. The tandem of Seniors Willie Pickvet and DJ
Baisden provided almost all the fire power for Spring Arbor with Baisden
scoring 21 points and Pickvet netting 15 in the low scoring tilt.
Neither team shot the ball very well, from outside the 3
point arc, or inside as well. The
difference in the game, which has been the story all year long for Spring Arbor,
is free throw shooting. The Cougars, one
of the best free throw shooting teams in the country hot 13 of 15 shots from
the line while Taylor hit only 6 of 9.
SAU hit their first 9 free throws in the game.
"This was a huge win for us against a quality opponent on
the road and road wins are hard to get," said Head Coach Ryan Cottingham. "Matt Howe played great for us, and DJ and
Willie provided that Senior leadership that you expect to get from them. I thought defensively we really did a good
job and came up with big stops when we needed them."
With Spring Arbor up by 6 (43-37) with 5:59 to go in the
game, Taylor's Drew Tower hit a 3 pointer to cut the lead in half and started
an 8-0 run which left the Cougars down by 2 points (43-45) until Baisden hit a
field goal with 3:36 to go in the game.
Baisden would score the next 6 points for Spring Arbor with
2 field goals and 2 free throws to give the Cougars a 51-47 edge with 0:26 left
before Taylor hit a shot with 7 seconds left and fouled Sophomore Chris Bellamy
to send him to the line with 6 seconds on the clock. Bellamy missed the first and made the second
for the final score of 52-49.
The men are home on Thursday night vs. Bethel College who
beat Bethel College tonight 70-54 to lift their record to 11-7 on the
year. Tipoff is 7:00 at Bockwitz Court
in the SAU Field house.
