Highlander Men Can’t
Quite Catch Pioneers
(Houghton, N.Y.)—Basketball
is a team game, but sometimes one man can make the difference. That was the
case Friday night as the Houghton College men gave a strong team effort but
couldn’t overcome a singular performance from Point Park’s Chivas Whipple,
whose 37 points led the Pioneers to an 80-76 victory at the Nielsen Center.
Whipple, a
28-year-old ex-Marine, shot 13-27 from the field and 11-15 from the line,
plus took down six rebounds and had six steals.
“It came down
to two things,” said Highlanders Head Coach Brad Zarges, “Too many turnovers
and too much Whipple. He’s a great player, and a great guy.”
In a closely
played game—it was tied five times and the most either team led by was
12—both teams had leads they couldn’t hold. Point Park jumped out early to
an early 14-7 advantage, using full-court pressure to get turnovers and
spark their offense.
The
Highlanders settled down and used an organized press break and good defense
to fight back, drawing to 24-23 with six minutes left in the first half.
In the second
frame, Point Park built its lead to eight (47-39), but Houghton came back
with a 13-2 run to take a 52-49 lead about eight minutes in.
The Pioneers
responded by building their largest spread of the game, 72-60, with five
minutes to go. That proved to be enough—Houghton fought back, but could
never retake the lead.
Ben Kopp shot
6-10 from beyond the arc on his way to a team-high 22 points. Yannick
Anzuluni and Mada Abdelhamid each racked up double-doubles for the
Highlanders. Anzuluni had 15 points and a game-high 20 rebounds. Abdelhamid
had 17 points and 10 boards.
The
Highlanders out-rebounded Point Park 42-26, but had 25 turnovers to 13 by
the Pioneers.
The loss drops
Houghton to 7-16. The Highlanders host the Notre Dame College Falcons at the
Nielsen Center on Saturday at 4 p.m.
Houghton College
has deep
and
solid
roots in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics, where our
teams use their commitment to excellence, both on the field-of-play
and
in the classroom, as a platform for their strong and
unique emphasis on Sports Ministry. Their goal is to make a difference
for the Kingdom
on campus, in Allegany County,
in the Northeast and
around
the world.
Houghton is one of only 13 institutions who have been hand-selected
by the NAIA to serve as "Champions of Character" Program Centers, opening the door
for Houghton to be a leader,
both in the Northeast and
nationally, in character education.
Through hands-on,
innovative community outreach initiatives, Houghton coaches and
student-athletes
are working together to change the culture of sport and
to change our culture through sport.
