SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – A barrage of first half three-pointers from Mount Vernon Nazarene University proved to be too much for the Spring Arbor University men's basketball team to overcome in its regular season finale on Saturday, falling to MVNU 70-58.
Prior to the game, the Cougars honored their seniors, Collin Hewitt and Tyler Hughes, for all their hard work and dedication over the years to the basketball program.
Mount Vernon Nazarene (18-12, 9-9 Crossroads League) started the game 8-for-9 from behind the arc, propelling the visitors out to a 35-22 lead midway through the first half. Mount Vernon Nazarene pushed its lead as high as 18 at the 4:30 mark, but back-to-back baskets from sophomore Thomas Starks trimmed the deficit to 14 with less than a minute before the break. However, a late MVNU bucket gave the visitors a 42-26 advantage at halftime.
The visiting Cougars maintained a comfortable margin throughout the second period, boosting its lead to 23, 68-45, with 6:11 left to play. Spring Arbor would hold MVNU scoreless, though, over the next five minutes while using a 13-0 run to close the gap to 10 at the 1:29 mark, but that is as close as SAU would get.
The Cougars shot 33 percent (21-for-63) from the field while MVNU hit 48 percent (24-for-50), including 12-for-27 from three-point range. Mount Vernon Nazarene held a slight edge in rebounding, 37-35, but SAU grabbed 14 offensive rebounds compared to the visitor's five.
Starks finished with 14 points and eight rebounds to pace the Cougars while Caleb Hogans and Jimmy Kodet followed with 12 and 11 points, respectively. Zach Medendorp and Drew Zuidema chipped in five points apiece.
Spring Arbor (13-17, 4-14 Crossroads League) will travel to No. 1 Indiana Wesleyan University (28-2, 16-2 Crossroads League) for the first round of the Crossroads League Tournament on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 7 p.m.
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