Perhaps this is why Coach Dan Dakich said before the preseason began that this was the most excited he’s ever been for a season. His men’s basketball team used a mixture of young and old to pull away from Shawnee State University yesterday, downing the Indians 96-68 in front of 682 at Anderson Arena.
Ron Lewis, one of two freshmen on the team, led the Falcons with 22 points, while center Kevin Netter scored 19 and Germain Fitch, Raheem Moss and Cory Ryan each chipped in 10 points apiece.
“[My transition] is going good,” Lewis said. “The upperclassmen are just helping me out, and getting me through practice and telling me how to get through everything. I’m just following their leadership. … A game like this can help me out a lot. I just try to listen to my coaches and teammates.”
The Indians used two quick guards — one from Moss and Lewis’ alma mater, Columbus Brookhaven — to keep the game close 10 minutes into the first half. A three by Shawnee’s Antwain Lavender tied the game at 14 — the closest the Indians would get — but a 10-1 BG run, which included six straight points from Lewis, put the Falcons up for good. After Shawnee brought the game back within four, three minutes later, Cory Eyink and Moss scored baskets and Netter scored six straight to put BG up 39-28. BG led 48-34 at half.
BG broke the game wide open in the second half, using a 9-0 run midway through the half to go up 68-43, and a Ryan bucket minutes later gave BG a 74-45 lead, their biggest of the game. The Indians cut the lead to 20 later, but the Falcons once again ran ahead and won by 28.
Ryan, who scored 27 points last weekend in the team’s opening exhibition win, added seven assists this week, while Fitch and Eyink grabbed eight rebounds apiece. BG had nearly twice as many assists as turnovers, 23-12, and outrebounded SSU 42-33. Lavender led the Indians with 26 points.
“This was a really difficult team to play against,” Dakich said.
“Lavender played against Ron and Raheem in high school, and [Andre] Horton is kid from an hour away from here, and those two are really competitive kids. They’re hard to play against with the way they shoot the ball. Obviously, we didn’t do a good job on Lavender, but he’s a tough guy to guard.”
“I thought we made a couple mistakes I just didn’t like,” Dakich said. “When they’re going to shoot 20 threes, they’re going to make some. For them to miss a lot, that tells me a lot of them were contested. I think we did a good job contesting good players.” Shawnee shot just 37.1 percent from the field, and just 27 percent from behind the arc.
Dakich said there are still things the team needs to work on for the start of the season.
“I was kind of disappointed in our post defense,” Dakich said. “I thought Davenport was able to get to the line too much, and that shouldn’t happen — we had bigger guys and better players at that position.”
Fitch said after the game that the team is starting to jel together as they get more and more experience playing with each other.
“Every practice since Aug. 28 has prepared us for Detroit coming up next Saturday,” Fitch said. “Day by day, we’re trying to get better as a team; that’s what we’re working towards.”
