Control is a good thing to have!
The Golden Eagles basketball team exercised lots of control after a five-hour bus ride to Berrien Springs, Michigan on Tuesday and came home a winner with their second straight road win, 66-59, over Andrews University.
The Eagles controlled the opening tip. They controlled the first half tempo causing 15 turnovers and two shot clock violations. They controlled the lane where they scored most of their points on layups that enabled them to take a 32-20 lead at halftime. And, they took control of their own destiny at the end of the game, coming up big with two late three-balls and two free throws when their lead had shrunk to four points (55-51).
The Navy and Gold scored the game's first five points to lead 5-0 and when the game was 12-12, non-starter, Jeremy Allen scored three straight times in the lane to advance the lead to 18-12.
Andre Leavell had three first half thefts that pushed the Eagles lead to nine-point leads on a couple of occasions. His final steal with under a minute to play in the opening half came on a Cardinals rebound under the KSU basket, which he softly laid off the glass for a 12-point lead at the break.
An alley-oop to Leavell and a Braden Rostad triple at the outset of the final 20 minutes spotted the Eagles their biggest lead of the night at 37-22. The hosts were not done however, as they made several rallies over a four-minute span to trim the lead to 45-40.
The Eagles matched Andrews bucket-for-bucket until they got another steal and full court driving layup from Leavell, a slash to the hoop through traffic by Malik Campbell and an off-balance jumper in the lane by Allen to right themselves for a 55-49 lead.
Down the stretch Braden Rostad put a couple of three-point daggers in the hearts of the Cardinals. His first triple with 4:03 left was essentially the game winning basket, as it gave the Eagles a 58-51 advantage. A RaShawn Robinson steal and outlet pass to Leavell looked like it would go for an easy basket, but Andrews was called for an intentional foul.
Leavell converted on two charity tosses and the Eagles got possession of the ball. As the Eagles drained the shot clock, Rostad sunk the Cardinals hopes with another three-ball.
Leading four Golden Eagles in double figures was Leavell, who scored 19 points on 8/12 shooting from the field. He also contributed a team leading six rebounds and four steals. Rostad ended with 15 points making 6/8 three-point attempts, Allen scored 12 points on 6/7 shooting and Tharp scored 10 points.
Defensively, the Eagles came up with 13 steals and forced 22 Cardinal turnovers.
With their second straight win the Eagles are now 7-9 on the year. They travel to Penn State Beaver on Thursday for a 7:00 p.m. start.
Andre Leavell led the Eagles with 19 points, 6 rebounds & 4 steals. (Photo by Jason Keller)