RICHMOND, Indiana – The Mount St. Joseph men's basketball team scored the first seven points of the game, and never trailed in their first road win of the season at Earlham on Saturday. The 69-57 win over the Quakers moved the Lions to 5-3 in the Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference this season.
The Lions were led in the game by sophomore
Dayne Gardner who scored a season-high 19 points to pace a trio of Lions in double-figures.
Evan Wiehe added 14, going 4-of-9 from three-point range, while
Luke Collinsworth added 13 including the first 7 of the game.
After outscoring Earlham 36-21 in the first half the Lions would have to withstand a couple of Quaker runs in the second half to secure the win. Earlham used a 13-4 run early in the second-half to get back in to the game. They would cut their deficit to just six points on a couple of occasions, but each time the Lions had an answer. The first time it was a basket by Collinsworth, the second it was a bigh three-pointer by freshman
Danny Austing to stem the tide. After the Austing bucket, Earlham was unable to get back within single digits the rest of the way.
Other standout performers for the Lions in the game included
Matthew Menninger who led the team with 7 rebounds in his first career start, adding 2 blocks and 2 steals to go along with 4 points. Williard Cluxton was a stat sheet stuffer as well, scoring 6 points, dishing out 7 assists, and pulling in 5 rebounds.
UP NEXT:
The Lions will hit the road again on Wednesday as they head west to take on the Franklin Grizzlies (9-6, 5-3 HCAC). The game is scheduled to tip-off at 7:30 PM.
