Men Cage Tigers
January 16, 2008
Brandon Nichols
SWOSU limited ECU to one basket in the final five minutes and none after the 3:35 mark to win a game in which needed all their basketball savvy and all-out hustle. The win lifted the 17th ranked Bulldogs to 13-3 on the year and 1-0 in the Lone Star Conference North Division.
Nate Perry scored 16 points to lead SWOSU while Kendall Smith added 14 and Trevor Guy notched 12 points.
ECU, which fell to 9-6 and 0-1, was led by Ian Adams with 12 points.
Smith buried a three-pointer, his fourth of the game, to put SWOSU ahead for good at 51-49 with 3:00 to play.
Nate Perry
SWOSU's Abdullah Lawal continued to cause considerable problems on the defensive end for the opponents. He was credited with six steals, the third time this season he has reached that mark.
The Bulldogs were decided winners on the offensive glass ripping down 17 offensive caroms that resulted in 11 more shots. During one sequence in the late in the game SWOSU had four consecutive offensive rebounds which allowed the Bulldogs to drain off precious seconds on the clock.
Perry led all players with 13 rebounds. SWOSU had 15 second-chance points compared to ECU’s 10.
SWOSU was 18-of-58 from the field for 31% while ECU made 45% of its shots on 21-of-47.
SWOSU will next play Saturday at Northeastern State University before returning home Wednesday, Jan. 23 to face two-time defending North champion Southeastern Oklahoma State University for a 8 p.m. tipoff.