We headed on the road for a little doubleheader action with the women's team (all of our games should be that way, especially in our league) as we take on the River Falls Falcons (a little more creative than our league). River Falls was #17 in the latest D3hoops poll and knocked off former #1 Stevens Point two weeks ago. We were planning on a scrap and we sure got one.
The first half started out great for us as we went up 16-6 after the first media timeout (nobody let us know they had those there). We were clicking on all cylinders. They didn't know what to do offensively and we were making shots defensively. They made a couple of changes and that definitely got them going. I believe they went on a 25-5 run at one point led by Jontae Koonkaew. He is a small but strong point that can really fill it up and he did. We battled back and got the game within three at the half. We had 14 turnovers and gave up 9 offensive boards. Just next acceptable anywhere, especially on the road against a veteran team. Halftime score, 36-33.
The second half per usual was back and forth pretty much the whole time. We both made little runs here and there but neither of us could get away from each other. As the second half progressed, it looked like we had them on the heels. We kept getting the ball inside to Carl and he was either scoring or getting to the free throw line. They certainly didn't have an answer for him, just like we didn't have an answer for Jontae. River Falls got a little comfortable with their lead late and we kept on attacking and scoring but could never get it closer than five. Final score, 81-74 River Falls.
We were led by Carl's 22 points, 14 boards and 6 blocks. He probably had a bunch more blocks as well. Mike and Noah rounded out our double figure scoring with 15 and 13, respectively. As usual, we couldn't hit the broad side of a barn from 3, as we finished 5-20 for the game. We shot a stellar 35.7% from the floor overall. Tough to win on the road with those numbers. We ended up 29-33 from the line, which is our best performance from there this season. Just wish we could've gotten there a couple more times during the game.
Once again, we had a close game. That seems to be our MO this year. Hopefully, as time goes on we will be comfortable in these situations and it will help us get a playoff berth and potentially an NCAA berth.
Looking at River Falls' roster and the guys that played, they are a veteran group. They have one 5th year guy in Jontae, three other seniors, one 4th year Jr in Shane Manor, three Jrs., and then two sophomores. That must be nice to have and that is probably why they have won some big games this year and will probably do pretty well throughout the season. We'll get there at some point but we have to get stronger and tougher. Every loose ball has to be ours. That just isn't the case right now. It's clearly a mentality. Either us as a coaching staff isn't doing a good enough job of recruiting tough kids or our guys get soft as soon as they step on campus.
We have a little break before our next one. We play another quality WIAC opponent in UW-Whitewater at their place on Dec. 30th.
I'm off to Portland tomorrow morning to go recruit, Nelson will be in Arizona. Hopefully, we come back with a couple of studs and a good outlook for the 2011 recruiting class.
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