As the old adage goes, "The more things change the more they stay the same", applied to the Golden Eagles basketball game in the second round of the Coach Jim Connor Classic at Thomas More on Sunday.
The name on the opponent's jerseys may have changed from Saturday, but the result was the same as KSU Tusc dropped a game to a nationwide preseason NAIA Top 25 team in host Thomas More 77-49.
Also, a difference a day did not make in this case, as the Eagles offense went silent for the last 4:35 of the game while the Saints blew open an 11-point game. TMU would score the final 14 points of the game holding the Eagles to just a single basket. The drought was similar to a 16-0 run near the end of Saturday's game versus Georgetown College that resulted in a 20-point loss---but good teams will do things like that to you.
And it must have seemed like deja vu for the Navy and Gold who trailed 22-20 with 4:14 left in the opening half, before Thomas More blew by them scoring the last 12 points to take a 34-20 lead into the locker room.
Thomas More was in control 58-36 before KSU Tusc forged an 11-0 run to chop a 22-point deficit in half. Kyle Shockley got things started after gathering his own miss and going glass at the 7:41 mark. Braden Rostad picked up some of the dirty work, canning a deep left wing three-ball, stealing a pass on TMU's next offensive set and finding Kameron Shockley on two consecutive backdoor cuts for easy lay ins. Shockley made a steal of his own and found DeJuan Lawrence on the baseline for a dunk before the Saints asked for a timeout and the score 58-47.
The Saints however, did not cooperate any further. They shifted into overdrive and forced the Eagles into three empty possessions and limited them to just two free throws with 3:57 showing on the clock. The freebies were the last time the numbers changed on the KSU Tusc's side of the scoreboard.
In the first half, Thomas More jumped to a 4-0 lead but the Eagles battled back with a 6-0 surge to creep to within 19-15 with 7:25 left to play. A Jordan Stevens triple cut the lead to 22-20 and the Eagles still had chances to overtake the Saints before halftime.
They stole the ball on two straight possessions, but then made consecutive turnovers on the offensive end of the floor before the scoreboard tilted in TMU's favor. It also did not help that the Eagles offense seemingly went into panic mode as they settled for three-point bombs going 0-5 inside the last three minutes of the opening stanza.
For the game the Eagles shot 40% from the floor making 20/50 attempts and they were just 5/20 from behind the arc. They did make good on 4/7 free throws, where TMU held a lopsided advantage making 18/29 chances. The Saints also scored 22 points off 20 Golden Eagles turnovers.
As was the case on Saturday, Lawrence led KSU Tusc with 13 points on 6/12 shooting. He also cleared 9 rebounds and blocked four shots. Kyle Shockley was the only other Golden Eagle in double figures with 13 points off the bench on 5/11 shooting. The Eagles had 12 steals and five blocked shots.
The Eagles return home for a game against Defiance College on Saturday, November 20th in a 3:00 p.m. tipoff.
Kyle Shockley takes contact on a drive to the hoop. (Photo by Jason Keller)