Purdue University Northwest Sports Update, January 26, 2017

Spring-Coe-Lead-PNW-to-78-70-Win-At-CCSJSpring, Coe Lead PNW to 78-70 Win At CCSJ The Purdue University Northwest men’s basketball team held off a second-half rally for a big 78-70 conference victory at rival Calumet College of St. Joseph Wednesday night at the Rittenmeyer Center.

The Pride improved to 10-12 overall and 8-6 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference, which keeps PNW in second place in the South Division and two games ahead of the Crimson Wave, who fell to 6-8 in CCAC play and 10-11 overall.

The win avenged an earlier-season loss to Calumet College, who won the first meeting, 72-56, Nov. 16 in Hammond.

Sophomore Chandler Spring (Covington, Ind./Covington) led PNW with a game-high 20 points on 8-of-15 shooting, adding five rebounds and three assists and junior teammate Tyree Coe (Fishers, Ind./Fishers) added 16 points. PNW teammates Jai Wright (Richmond, Ind./Richmond) and Ryan Barnes (Crown Point, Ind./Illiana Christian) each chipped in 10 points, which marked career-highs for both players.

PNW, which won its third-straight conference contest, led at the break, 41-28, bolstered by 15 first-half points from Spring, who made 7-of-13 from the field in the first 20 minutes. For the game, Purdue Northwest shot a blistering 55.4 percent (31-of-56) from the field for the game, while holding the Crimson Wave to 32.9 percent (25-of-76) from the floor.

Purdue Northwest led by as many as 18, 49-31, at the 15:50 mark of the second half before the Crimson Wave began to mount its comeback. CCSJ would go on to outscore PNW by a 17-5 margin over the next five minutes to cut that lead to six, 54-48, with 10:47 to play.

But back-to-back layups by Wright and Barnes helped withstand the charge and push that lead back to double-digits (58-48) with 9:36 to go. CCSJ wasn’t finished, however, as the Crimson Wave used a 7-0 run to trim the lead to just three, 58-55, on a Michael Brooks 3-pointer at the 4:33 mark.

That’s when Coe got hot from deep, draining two clutch, back-to-back triples to push the PNW back to seven. The closest CCSJ would get after that was four, on two Demonte Lowery free-throws with 31 seconds left. But the Pride defense and free-throws from Spring (1-2) and Wright (3-4) would help seal the win in the final seconds.

Wright recorded his first double-double of the year with a team-high 10 boards and senior Shereff Knight (Michigan City, Ind./Michigan City) dished out seven assists.

Darrick Scott led CCSJ with 18 points, Lowery added 14 points, and Karon Linton and Julian Snowden each scored 11 each in the setback.

Purdue Northwest returns to action Saturday, Jan. 28, when the Pride host Roosevelt on Kids Day at Hammond’s Fitness and Recreation Center. Tip-off of the men’s game is set for 3 p.m., preceded by the women’s contest at 1 p.m.

No. 15 Purdue Northwest Cruises to 88-40 Win over CCSJ The No. 15 Purdue University Northwest women’s basketball team didn’t leave its 12th conference victory of the year in doubt in a big 88-40 win over Calumet College of St. Joseph Wednesday night on the road at the Rittenmeyer Center.

The Pride (17-6, 12-2 Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference) outscored the Crimson Wave (1-22, 1-13) by a 29-8 margin after one quarter and led by 55-12 at the half to put the game out of reach early.

Senior Darien Thompson (Anderson, Ind./Anderson) scored 17 of her team-high 24 points in the first half, finishing 9-of-12 from the field and adding four assists and four rebounds. Freshman Shae Rhonehouse (Fremont, Ind./Fremont) added 15 points and four assists and senior Cassidy Deno (Otterbein, Ind./Benton Central) added 11 points, all scored in the first half.

Purdue Northwest finished 51.5 percent (35-of-68) from the field and hit nine 3-pointers, led by Deno’s 3-for-9 performance. Comparatively, CCSJ shot just 28.8 percent (17-of-59) from the floor and 3-of-9 from 3-point land.

The Pride forced the Crimson Wave into a game-high 24 turnovers on 19 steals, while committing just 11 giveaways. Deno led the way with five steals and junior post Ellie Michalski (Mukwonago, Wis./Mukwonago) and senior Katie Wampler (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) had three each, with Michalski adding a team-best eight rebounds.

Sophomore Michaela Kikendall (Scottsburg, Ind./Scottsburg) chipped in nine points, shooting 4-of-8, and freshman Bayley Goodman (Fowler, Ind./Benton Central) added seven points, a career-high. All 10 PNW players who reached the floor scored, with each player logging at least 15 minutes.

Brittni Kisul was the lone CCSJ player in double-figures, scoring 24 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor and 3-of-7 from the 3-point line.

Purdue Northwest returns to action Saturday, Jan. 28, when the Pride host CCAC foe Roosevelt University at the Fitness and Recreation Center in Hammond. Tip-off is set for 1 p.m. CT. Saturday is also Kids Day, sponsored by McDonald’s, as all kids under 18 will get in free to the event complete with free t-shirts to the first 150, carnival games, face-painting, autograph poster signing and more.

The PNW women will also honor its senior class – Deno, Wampler and Thompson – prior to the starting lineups in honor of Senior Day.