Wave Exact Revenge On Cougars In Last Non-Conference Game

CCSJ-Wave-Exact-Revenge-On-Cougars-In-Last-Non-Conference-Game-2017With Christmas and the holiday break fast approaching, it was important for the Crimson Wave men's basketball team to end the 2017 portion of their schedule on a high note. Welcoming IU-Kokomo to the Rittenmeyer Center, a team they had lost to earlier in the season, proved to be a welcomed challenge and a chance to seek revenge for the loss that ended their historic start to the season. Shaking off a slow start, the Wave passed the test with flying colors, downing the Cougars 89-82 in front of a lively crowd in Whiting.

While CCSJ (10-4, 4-3 CCAC) were the first to grab the lead early on, that pesky problem of slow starts reared its ugly head. The Crimson and Gray found themselves down by 10 with only 5:30 left to go in the first half, but scratched and clawed their way back into the game in short order. The Wave went on a 17-5 run in the time remaining, thanks in large part to three trays, as well as four made free throws. Calumet grabbed back the lead with 36 second remaining, and went to the locker room up 36-34.

The start of the second half proved to be a battle for supremacy between the two clubs, as the teams shared the lead eight different times within the first nine minutes. It wasn't until a Joe Larry three that the Crimson Wave would grab the lead and hold onto it for good. Calumet ran that lead up to 11 at one point, and featured an increased defensive effort that proved to be effective at keeping the long ball at bay for the Cougars. IU-Kokomo (6-8, 3-2 RSC) missed their last eight three pointer attempts, scoring only on jumpers and free throws. Meanwhile, the Wave would hit nine free throws and wrapped up the game easily with a seven-point victory, 89-82.

After the game, head coach Ryan Sexson was pleased that the team's biggest concern heading into the game turned out to be one of their biggest strengths. "My biggest concern coming into the game was rebounding the ball. The challenge to our guys was to finally win a game on the glass, and I challenged my two guards (Harrison and Brooks) to get seven rebounds. Devin ends up with ten and Mike ends up with seven, as well as a couple of other guys with six, so to win the battle of the boards against IU-Kokomo, a team with good size and athleticism, by 12 was pretty impressive."

Devin Harrison and Michael Brooks shared the team lead with 20 points, a game high. Harrison turned in a doubledouble on the evening, as he also paced the team with 10 of their 45 total rebounds. Much like Harrison, Brooks also led the team in more than one category, contributing five of the teams 16 assists. The bench proved to be a valuable asset once again, pouring in 32 points.

When asked about the importance to the team to have two effective guards, Sexson said that he was simply lucky. "Well it's really good. To have two guys like that, Devin has been with us for three years and this is Mike's fourth year, there's very few things that I have to tell them. They pretty much know what I want out of them. You can't win without good guards, so when you're playing a team like Kokomo who is going to press you for 40 minutes, it's a little easier to sleep at night knowing that you got guys like Brooks and Harrison, who you know are going to take care of the basketball."

The men's team will now take the next 18 days off before heading back onto the court for game action. When they return, it will only be conference games that remain. Their first task will be to take down Roosevelt on January 6th at home. Tipoff on Saturday is slated for 3:00 pm. According to Sexson, this is the time where we will see what this team really is. "We're in for a really exciting second half. When you come back from the break, every game is the biggest game of the year. They all just mean so much. I told them that this is the time that we find out if we're contenders or pretenders. Teams will slide and the cream will always rise to the top. I thought today was a good indication of where we are at."

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