Road weariness from a five-plus hour bus ride may have taken its toll on the Golden Eagles basketball team on Saturday, as they struggled shooting the ball in the first half at Andrews University.
Mired in shooting woes, the Eagles survived while trudging through 12/46 first half shooting (26%) before awakening in the final half to down the Cardinals 79-65. They ended the game much more accurately converting 15/29 second half field goal tries and sinking 15 free throws.
But things didn't start out very well! The Eagles leapt out to a 7-0 lead, and it appeared as if they had landed an early knockout punch against the Cardinals. Then the shooting woes set it and the Navy and Gold couldn't buy a basket to save their lives, even at point blank range. Add in several air balls and the offense staggered a bit.
An 8-0 run by the host Cardinals allowed them to take a momentary 12-10 lead at one point, but an Arthur Jackson put back and a Braden Rostad triple gave the Eagles a 15-10 advantage. It was a lead that they never gave up even though they had to keep scrapping to take a 29-27 lead into intermission.
The Eagles opened the final half with seven straight points to take a 36-29 lead and built their advantage to nine points with 12:09 left at 44-35. Two straight KSU Tusc miscues however, shrunk their comfortable lead to four points (45-41) with 10:30 to play.
Another Rostad three-ball gave them an 11-point, 53-42 cushion, but the Cardinals---who only led once in the game---manufactured a very workmanlike 11-0 streak fueled by a pair of errant Eagles passes. They fought back with 11 straight points to tie the game at 53-53 with 6:55 showing on the game clock.
Game on!
A huge Kameron Shockley and-one on an offensive stick back with 6:25 left lifted the Eagles to a 56-53 lead and changed the whole complexion of the game and soon it was Paradise Lost for Andrews. Author John Milton's well known phrase summed it up, as it all broke loose, with the Eagles powering their way to a 16-2 blowout over the next 5:11 spelling doom for the Cardinals who finally managed a free throw with 1:34 left but still trailed 69-56.
Over the last 6:25 the Eagles rained down 26 points on the Cardinals while holding the hosts to 12 points to secure the win. The Eagles got four baskets on offensive rebounds, one of them a put back by Kyle Shockley coming after four straight rebounds on one offensive possesion. During that important span, Shockley (9) and JaJuantae Young (7) combined for 16 of KSU Tusc's points, whose largest lead of the game reached 18 points (74-56).
Five Eagles scored in double digits. Two of them had double-double performances as Kameron Shockley had a 15 points and 13 boards and DeJuan Lawrence scored 12 and pulled down 11 misses. JaJuantae Young scored 13 points, Kyle Shockley had 12 and London Cobbs added 10.
Collectively the Eagles shot 27/75 (36%), they outrebounded Andrews 54-43, committed 11 turnovers and blocked five shots.
On Sunday, the Eagles who are now 14-6 on the year, make a stop at Edison State to take on the Chargers in a 1:00 p.m. contest. It is the second of seven straight road games for the Eagles to finish the season.
Kameron Shockley fires a jumper from the free throw line and Kyle Shockley tips in an offensive rebound. Photos by Andrew Dolph