Warriors trip up Jaguars in overtime
By Aaron Schneider
UNIVERSITY PARK, Ill. – The Waldorf College men’s basketball team earned a 103-96 overtime victory during Tuesday’s matchup against Governors State University.
Governors State (4-19) entered Tuesday’s contest averaging 80.4 points per game on offense. The Jaguars used their fast-paced offense to score transition points and take Waldorf (15-9) into overtime. The Warriors reeled off 11 unanswered points in overtime and outscored the Jaguars 13-6 during the extra period.
“They definitely played well,” Waldorf coach Nigel Jenkins said. “They scored a lot of points in transition on us, but I’m really happy that we found a way to pull the win out.”
Six players scored in double figures for the Warriors.
Waldorf’s Erik Brewer turned in a team-high 23 points. The 6-foot-6 senior forward from Las Vegas converted 9-of-18 (50 percent) shots from the field and knocked down all five of his free-throw attempts.
Senior Tyler Parrish notched 20 points for the Warriors and junior June Prowell added 15 points.
Isaiah Curry recorded a double-double for Waldorf with 14 points and a career-high 10 rebounds. The 6-foot-5 freshman from Clermont, Florida also racked up a career-high four blocks.
“Isaiah was a big difference maker for us,” Jenkins said. “He did a good job on the glass offensively and defensively. I was really proud of the way he played.”
Junior Michael Morgan scored 11 points and pulled down nine boards for the Warriors. Sophomore Kaden Verdin provided 10 points. Sophomores Kaimen Slay and Eric English contributed five points and four points, respectively. Freshman Devon Collins rounded out the scoring effort with one point.
“Offensively, we were able to find a lot of different guys and it made an impact,” Jenkins said.
Torrey Oliver led the Jaguars with a game-high 26 points and tallied a double-double by collecting 10 rebounds.
Governors State’s Jalen Miller provided 25 points with the help of an 11-for-17 (64.7-percent) shooting effort from the floor. Willie Lipsey finished with 17 points and Shane Roberts provided 14 points for the Jaguars.
The Warriors out-rebounded Governors State by a 45-36 margin, including 18 offensive boards that lifted Waldorf to a 29-12 advantage in second-chance points.
“We did a good job in utilizing our size to get a lot of offensive rebounds and convert on them,” Jenkins said.
Waldorf made 39-of-91 (42.9 percent) shots from the field and sank 6-of-17 (35.3 percent) attempts from 3-point range. The Jaguars hit 36-of-88 (40.9 percent) attempts from the floor and converted 5-of-21 (23.8 percent) shots from downtown.
At the free-throw line, the Warriors sank 19-of-27 (70.4 percent) attempts while Governors State made 19-of-26 (73.1 percent) shots from the charity stripe.
Both teams limited offensive mistakes. The Warriors committed eight turnovers and outscored the Jaguars 16-11 in points off turnovers. Governors State turned the ball over 10 times.
“We did a good job of taking care of the basketball,” Jenkins said.
Waldorf held a 56-52 advantage in points in the paint.
The game started as a back-and-forth contest that featured five lead changes in the first five minutes. After the Jaguars tied the game at 9-all with 15 minutes, 47 seconds remaining, they broke it open with a 25-7 run to lead 34-16 with 8:47 left in the opening half. Waldorf responded with a 17-2 run during the next 2:45 to cut the lead to 36-33. The run included the Warriors scoring on seven consecutive possessions.
The Jaguars built a 45-36 lead with 4:34 left in the first half, but Waldorf trimmed the deficit to 47-46 with 1:02 remaining. Governors State held a 50-46 halftime lead.
The Jaguars extended their lead to double digits and was in front 71-61 with 12:47 remaining in the second half. Waldorf started to steadily erase the deficit and Curry knotted the score at 85-all with 4:41 to go.
Lipsy made a layup to give Governors State a 90-88 advantage with 1:48 left on the clock. When the Jaguars regained possession of the ball, they could not close out the game. During the final possession of regulation, the Warriors pulled down three offensive rebounds and Curry evened the score at 90-all with 11 seconds remaining. The Jaguars failed to cash in on their final possession, sending the game into overtime.
Waldorf stormed to a 101-90 lead to start overtime and Governors State came up empty on its first five possessions of overtime. Down the stretch, the Warriors held on to defeat the Jaguars for the second time this season.
“At the end of the day, it came down to who was going to get stops and we were able to get stops in overtime,” Jenkins said.
Waldorf continues its season on Friday, hosting Grace University (11-13) in a 7 p.m. matchup. The Royals topped the Warriors 78-76 in Omaha, Nebraska on Jan. 23. Waldorf knows it’ll need a solid effort to bring down Grace.
“We’ve got another tough game against a team who plays at a fast pace,” Jenkins said. “They’ve played well since January started and we’ve got to defend the home court.”