MARION, IN -- The
Spring Arbor men's basketball team was going to have its hands full with the 6th
ranked Cornerstone Golden Eagles on Saturday afternoon. Playing in the MCC/WHAC Challenge on the
campus of Indiana Wesleyan, the Cougars were looking to win their third
straight game so far in this young season.
In a game that momentum would swing one way and back, Spring
Arbor ended up with the bigger swings and got the best of the Golden Eagles
65-57.
With 16:13 left in the first half, a 3-pointer by Chandler
Okey gave the Cougars the lead that Spring Arbor would build to 16 points (25-9)
with 6:48 left in the half. But
Cornerstone would steal the momentum back and out score Spring Arbor 19-8 and
cut the lead to five points (33-28) at the break.
After the half, Spring Arbor scored the first five points to
jump out to a 10 point lead but Cornerstone took its turn to score and
proceeded to take charge and eventually took the lead and would lead by 4
(52-48) with 5:44 left in the game.
But it would be all Spring Arbor in the last 5 minutes as
the Cougars would go on a 17-5 run to close out the game and improve Spring
Arbor's record to 4-1 on the year.
Cornerstone drops to 0-3 on the season.
Chris Bellamy scored 16 in the game to lead all scorers and
grabbed 8 rebounds. Rob Hogans delivered
with 12 points, and Matt Carden and Matt Van Pelt each scored 10.
Bellamy was once again perfect from the free throw line
hitting 8 of 8 throws from the stripe.
As a team, the Cougars hit 17 of 20 free throws (85%). They are 86 of 103 (83.5%) through five games
While the MCC/WHAC Challenge is over for this season, the
Cougars will continue its run through the WHAC with a fifth straight contest
against former conference foes. SAU will
tip off against Siena Heights on Tuesday night in Adrian, MI at 8:00 pm.
