Cincinnati, Ohio—For the second time this week the Mount St. Joseph University Men's Basketball program welcomed a Heartland Conference foe to the Harrington Center. This Lions were looking to turn the tide in the series against Rose-Hulman, who had squeezed by the Lions by a margin of four earlier this season.
The opening minutes of this ball game saw both teams score at an impressive rate, seeing Tanner Clos knock down a three-pointer and Brady Thomas knock down a jump-shot. In the mean time Rose-Hulman had knocked down two deep balls and a jumper to build an early 8-5 lead. The Lions were able to tie the game for the first time at the 16:52 mark, when Senior Devin Young located Jack Kolar wide open from deep. Going into the first media stoppage of the afternoon the Lions trailed, as the hot-handed Jackson Kabrick of Rose-Hulman converted on another scoring attempt.
Despite the fast scoring start, following the media timeout, both teams struggled to get the lid off the rim, going over two minutes of play without a score. It was Rose-Hulman who ended the scoring lul, as they assembled a 7-0 scoring run, propelling them ahead 15-8. The Lions would promptly end this run, with a run of their own seeing Young drive the lane and dish out a sweet assist to a wide-open David Lures for a three-ball. Following a stop on the next Rose-Hulman possession it was Thomas, who knocked down another jump-shot narrowing the Deficit to 15-13.
At the 10 minute mark the Mount built their first lead as Thomas knocked down a deep-ball. The senior guard would follow this up with a steal on the defensive end of the court, taking it the full length of the court for a fast-break bucket. He would continue to help the Lions hold their lead, running off of a screen to free him up to knockdown his fourth jumper of the game. Following a stoppage in action, the Lions would open a 22-17 lead, as Dayne Gardner drove the lane, drawing the attention of the defense and dishing it out to Spencer Kinnett.
Rose was able to slowly crawl their way back into the game scoring four unanswered, before the Lions were able to swing the ball around the horn and locate a wide-open Alex Totton for three. A physical defensive rebound by Clos would set up a quick scoring possession for the Lions with Young finding himself at the line, knocking down both attempts. Thomas would cap the first-half scoring for the Lions hitting another contested shot. This sent the Lions to the half leading 29-23. Thomas was key in sending the Mount into the half with a lead, shooting 75% on 8 attempts.
Second-half action, saw Rose-Hulman cut into the Mount lead, getting the first scoring nod of the half. The combination of a Thomas jumper and Lures three were able to hold the Fightin' Engineers at arms length. Following a pair of free-throws at the hands of Thomas the Lions found themselves in the drivers seat, opening their first double digit lead of the game. The Engineers were able to hang in the game, hitting a tightly contested three-ball. However Thomas would answer with another shot, on the other end of the court Young would come up with a steal, feeding the ball to Thomas on the break who would facilitate an easy deep ball look for Kolar. This capped off a 12-5 Lions run to start the half, opening a 41-30 lead.
This run would extend well into the 15 minute mark as Willard Cluxton would connect on a deep-ball attempt and follow it up by assisting Totton on a three of his own. A fast-break bucket by Gardner would open a 16 point lead and see the Lions seize control of all momentum.
Rose would begin clawing their way back into the game, establishing a 4-0 run going into a media timeout at the 11 minute mark. Then the engineers would continue extending their run, converting on a post hook attempt. After another Rose-Hulman stop, they would run the floor knocking down a fast-break lay-up and convert on the second leg of the and-one attempt. A fast-break saw Cluxton, find Evan Wiehe behind arc, who would launch an attempt and get fouled. At the stripe Wiehe was perfect, nailing all three attempts to give the Lions a double digit lead once again.
With less than 10 minutes left to play, Wiehe would come up with a steal and run the floor, getting fouled on his way up. This would see him add another point to the Lions efforts and spring them ahead 52-41. A Lions turnover followed by a score by the Fightin' Engineers would make it a five point game.
At the 5:34 mark, Rose would narrow the Mount lead to four from the charity strip. However in consistent fashion of the game, Kolar would knock down a deep-ball. Following a split free-throw trip by Rose-Hulman, Devin Young would find a cutting Thomas, who got fouled on his way up and converting both attempts from the line. Rose Hulman would get a score on the ensuing possession, before a Clos offensive rebound would set up the Thomas to Kolar deep ball play.
Just under two minutes to play the Lions held a 60-55 lead. Thomas would extend this lead once again, converting an open wing jumper. After a stop by the Lions, Rose was pressed for time, fouling Lures twice in a 20 second span. Lures would connect on three of four tries. With 30 seconds remaining, the Engineers would net a shot to cut the Lions lead to 8 and call a quick timeout. Out of the timeout, Thomas would end all hopes of Rose-Hulman winning the game, breaking loose on the inbounds play and catching a full court pass for a wide-open fast-break layup. The senior guard would add two more to his total from the charity stripe before the time expired.
Several Lions turned in standout performances. Thomas had a stat-sheet stuffing performance, scoring 27 points, 5 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals and 1 block. Kolar was the second Lions with double digits finishing on 12 points on 4-5 shooting from behind the arc. Clos was the heartbeat of the team throughout the game, despite only scoring three points, he would lead the team with eight very timely rebounds.
After snapping an extended loosing streak, the Lions will look forward to traveling to the last-place Bluffton Beavers. This game will take place on Wednesday, February 2 with tip-off at 7:30PM. For continued coverage of this upcoming game and all other MSJ Athletics, continue to follow msjlions.com
