First Posted: 1/10/2015
LIMA – University of Northwestern Ohio’s Josh Scott kept weaving his way through traffic and finding his shooters. And they kept knocking down shots.
That was the formula in the Racers’ 83-66 men’s college basketball victory over Indiana Tech on Saturday at UNOH.
Scott (Defiance) finished with a double-double, 10 points and 11 assists. The last three games he’s had assist nights of 12, 12 and 11.
Most of the day, Scott got the ball to Lawrence Jackson (23 points), Ed Jenkins (17 points) and Aaron Cross (17 points).
UNOH hit 9 of 20 on 3-pointers, including Jackson sinking 4 of 7 on threes.
UNOH, which has won four in a row, stands 13-5, 8-2 in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference. Indiana Tech is 7-12, 4-7 in the WHAC.
“We have good chemistry, we move the ball pretty well foul line-to-foul line. And the kids found each other and we got easy baskets,” UNOH coach Chris Adams said.
To start the game, the Racers ran out to a 19-3 lead. In that spurt, Jackson hit two NBA 3-pointers, while Jenkins and Cross both sank one 3-pointer.
“When we get good starts, we play well during the game,” Scott said. “Once we get in a flow, we’re a really good team. We like to spread people out, and if we can get our shooters wide-open shots, a lot of time they are going to knock it down.”
Adams said, “I was most pleased with our defense early in the game because that jump started us into our offensive transition.”
UNOH led 35-15 and took a 44-33 into halftime.
But Indiana Tech began hitting 3-pointers against the UNOH man and 2-3 matchup zone and came all the way back to within two, 55-53, with 12:25 to go. Leading Indiana Tech was Chester McFadden, who finished with 28 points.
Trey Guilliam (Defiance) then hit a 3-pointer in the left corner, off a pass from Scott. That kick started a 15-0 UNOH run, as the Racers’ lead ballooned to 70-53 with 8:58 left. Cross and Scott both scored four in that run, while Jackson put down a slam dunk.
“We were disappointed that we let them back in the game,” Scott said. “Our defense picked it up a lot. We get a lot of good things out of our offense when our defense plays well.”
UNOH won the boards, 39-28. Jackson had nine rebounds, while Cross (Ada) had eight.
Jackson, a 6-foot-4 sophomore transfer from Caldwell Community College (N.C.), was the region player of the year last year. Jackson, who scored from the 3-point line and on post-up moves, leads the Racers in scoring (16.6) and rebounding (5.1).
“He’s a nice addition. He’s a scorer,” Adams said. “His ability to rebound tonight was a key.”
Women’s basketball
UNOH 82,
Indiana Tech 80 (OT)
UNOH regrouped in overtime and came up with a big defensive stand at the end to knock off Indiana Tech.
With 20 seconds left, the Racers led 82-80 and withstood a missed 3-pointer from the left wing by Indiana Tech’s Taylor Seiss with seven seconds left. Indiana Tech rebounded, but wasn’t able to get a final shot before the buzzer.
Sammi Dervisevic (Shawnee) led the Racers with 19 points and was 5 of 6 on 3-pointers. Natalie Billing (Anna) had 15 points and 10 rebounds.
“And Natalie has been out for almost two months because of a high-ankle sprain, so she’s getting back into basketball shape,” UNOH coach Kyle Menchhofer said. “Her presence inside, she was able to pick up some loose balls and put them back in the hole.
Billing added, “This is my third game back. Maddie (Coldren) got in foul trouble and that’s when you have to step up and be a team player.”
Eboni Adams scored 14 with six assists, while Madison Coldren had 10 points and five rebounds. Coldren, the team’s top scorer at 16 per game, fouled out with 3:06 to go.
UNOH, which has won three in a row, is 8-10, 6-4 in the Wolverine Hoosier Athletic Conference. Indiana Tech is 7-12, 6-5 in the WHAC.
The Racers led 40-32 at the half and built their lead to 54-41 with 11 minutes to play. Indiana Tech ripped off a 12-1 run to get within 55-53 and it was close until the end.
Indiana Tech’s Linsey Masnari hit two free throws with 22 seconds left to tie the game at 72 and force overtime.
“I wasn’t sure where we were at going into overtime,” Menchhofer said. “I thought our tank was going on empty and we had to use a number of substitutions there, but we came up big, defensively. … I thought their 3-point shooting was going to give us problems, but they made 10 of 29.”
The UNOH press forced 20 Indiana Tech turnovers.
Billing scored four points in overtime.
“I thought it was our advantage that we went into overtime, because we’ll play until the very end,” Billing said.
