Box Score

Mount Vernon Nazarene (Oh MVNU 17-8, 6-7 CL

Spring Arbor (Mich.) SAU 15-10, 7-6 CL

Mount Vernon Nazarene (Oh MVNU

17-8, 6-7 CL

Final

Jan. 31, 2017

Spring Arbor (Mich.) SAU

15-10, 7-6 CL

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Mount Vernon Nazarene (Oh MVNU	42	26	68
Spring Arbor (Mich.) SAU	32	37	69

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/31/2017 12:00:00 AM

Late run pushes Men's Basketball past MVNU

Next Game:

at Marian

2/4/2017 | 3:00 PM

Next Game

Full Schedule

Feb. 04 (Sat) / 3:00 PM

at Marian

History

Recap
Roster

SPRING ARBOR, Mich. – The Spring Arbor University men's basketball team trailed all night, and by as many as 15 in the second half, but a late 16-2 run propelled the Cougars to a thrilling 69-68 come-from-behind win over Mount Vernon Nazarene University Tuesday.

THE BASICS

FINAL SCORE: Spring Arbor 69, Mount Vernon Nazarene 68

LOCATION: SAU Fieldhouse | Spring Arbor, Mich.

RECORDS: Spring Arbor 15-10 (7-6 CL), Mount Vernon Nazarene 17-8 (6-7 CL)

HOW IT HAPPENED

Mount Vernon Nazarene, which entered the game receiving votes in the NAIA Top 25 Poll, started the night red-hot from long range. The visiting Cougars hit four three-pointers in the first six minutes to race out to a 16-7 lead.
Spring Arbor closed the gap to one, 20-19, at the 8:47 mark, but Mount Vernon Nazarene threatened to blow the game open with a 19-6 run to balloon the advantage to double digits. MVNU would take a 42-32 lead into halftime.
The visitors shot 56 percent from the field in the first half and made 10 three-pointers.
Mount Vernon Nazarene maintained a comfortable cushion in the early stages of the second half, and would eventually extend the margin to 15, 58-43, with 11:40 remaining.
Spring Arbor never panicked, though, and began to chip away at the deficit. Seniors Caleb Hogans, Thomas Starks and Xavier Prather led combined for 26 points in the second half to fuel the comeback.
Trailing by 10 with 5:42 left on the clock, SAU used a 16-2 run over the next five minutes to take its first lead of the night. Prather would come up with a big steal and finish at the other end to even the score at 64-64 at the 1:28 mark. Then, following another big defensive stop, Zach Medendorp hit a shot in the paint to put the Cougars on top for the first time. Paul Marandet would connect on a jumper on the next possession to give SAU a four point cushion, 68-64.
Mount Vernon Nazarene would have one last chance. After a missed free throw by SAU with six seconds left, MVNU rushed down the floor for a potential go-ahead basket, but Hogans came away with a huge takeaway at the last second to seal the win.

FOR THE COUGARS

Medendorp led the way for Spring Arbor with 21 points. Hogans followed with 15 and Marandet added 14 to go along with eight assists. Starks finished with 10 points – all in the second half – while also grabbing five rebounds and blocking three shots. Prather totaled eight points and hauled in six boards.
After a dismal first half, Spring Arbor shot 57 percent (13-for-23) from the field in the second, and finished the contest hitting 41 percent (20-for-49) of its attempts. The Cougars made a season-high 25 free throws going 25-for-29 from the charity stripe.
Spring Arbor, the league leader in scoring defense, held MVNU to just one field goal over an eight minute stretch in the second half to help ignite the comeback.
Spring Arbor forced MVNU into 20 turnovers and converted those giveaways into 25 points.
The Cougars are now 6-1 at home in Crossroads League contests this season.

FOR MOUNT VERNON NAZARENE

Josh Ashwill nearly registered a triple-double for MVNU with 14 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. Deontae Cole knocked down six three-pointers on his way to a team-high 20 points.
After shooting 56 percent (24-for-51) in the first period, Mount Vernon Nazarene was limited to 37 percent (9-for-24) in the second.
The Cougars attempted just 10 free throws on the night going 6-for-10 at the line.

UP NEXT

Spring Arbor will travel to Marian University on Saturday, Feb. 4 before returning home to take on Crossroads League leader, and No. 4 ranked Bethel College (21-3, 11-1 CL) on Tuesday, Feb. 7 at 7 p.m.