KWC has scoring in 86-72 win over Lake Erie | Sports
Kentucky Wesleyan College was without its leading scorer Tre Cobbs, but the Panthers were able to produce plenty of points Thursday night.
KWC beat Lake Erie 86-72 with four Panthers scoring in double figures and different players getting hot throughout the game at the Sportscenter.
Jamil Wilson led the way with 24 points and five assists. Wilson made 8-of-12 from the floor and 7-of-11 free throws.
“Jamil Wilson was tremendous in Tre’s absence,” KWC coach Drew Cooper said. “He had very timely bursts of effort defensively.”
Cobbs has been working through a recurring hand injury that flared up before Wednesday’s practice.
“I was hoping he would be able to go, it was a game time decision, and he wasn’t able to do it,” Cooper said. “He’s going to be a question mark moving forward. It’s been a recurring injury, one of those things that he came into practice, it hurt him a little bit, it’s something that didn’t happen all at one time.”
Zach Hopewell made three 3-pointers on the way to 19 points. Hopewell was 7-of-15 from the floor.
Wyatt Battaile also made three 3s, scoring 13 points and pulling down nine rebounds. Jo Griffin scored 10 points, grabbed eight rebounds and passed for five assists.
All four of those starters played at least 33 minutes. KWC is now 9-4.
Sasha Sukhanov also didn’t play because of an ankle injury.
Stew Currie picked up some of that slack with seven points and 10 rebounds. Nathan Boyle worked off the bench for nine points, hitting all three of his 3-pointers.
“We have a very talented offensive team,” Cooper said. “I didn’t like playing without Sasha, I didn’t like playing without Tre, but you look out there and we have refreshing personnel that can make plays offensively.
“Lake Erie would make a little run, then Zach Hopewell hits a 3 in the first half that keeps us up. Wyatt hit a couple of deep ones. Stew and Ben (Sisson) can score in there.”
The game was close until a stretch in the middle of the second half that started with a Hopewell 3. After that Currie made a jumper, Griffin made a couple of free throws, Wilson made a step back jumper, then Griffin dropped in a lob dunk and drilled another 3 that left KWC in command 73-59 with 5:33 left.
KWC made 60% in the second half and 55.4% for the game (31-of-56). KWC was also 11-of-21 from 3 for 52.4%.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s LeBron James or Tarik Dixon, if you shoot 60%, you shoot 60%,” Cooper said. “We were able to get acclimated and comfortable in the second half, we made good decisions offensively and drove our field-goal percentage up.”
Jacob Plantz led Lake Erie with 17 points. Lake Erie fell to 0-9. It made 28-of-64 from the floor for 43.8% and 11-of-31 from 3-point range for 35.5%.
KWC hosts Ohio Dominican on Saturday at 2:15 p.m. at the Sportscenter.
LAKE ERIE (72) — Plantz 17, Riggs 14, Peterson 14, Piks 11, Manning 6, Burge 4, Williams 4, Jones 2.
KENTUCKY WESLEYAN (86) — Wilson 24, Hopewell 19, Battaile 13, Griffin 10, Boyle 9, Currie 7, Dixon 2, Sisson 2,