Late Wildcat Run Dooms Goshen In Visit To Fourth-Ranked IWU
Maple Leafs retake lead six times before falling 102-83
MARION, Ind. — Billy Geschke’s 7-of-11 shooting fueled Goshen College all night Tuesday in a 102-83 Crossroads League men’s basketball loss to fourth-ranked Indiana Wesleyan University at Luckey Arena in Marion.
Logan Primerano added 17 points off the bench while knocking down three 3-pointers for the Maple Leafs (5-4, 1-1); Conner Funkhouser added 14 points and Devin Heath-Granger 12.
The first half included five ties and a dozen lead changes, with the Wildcats (8-1, 2-0) using a late five-point run to lead 46-41 at the intermission. Goshen out-shot IWU 56 percent to 47 percent in the opening 20 minutes, but the hosts used a 7-2 edge on the offensive glass to extend their possessions and maintain the lead.
The Maple Leafs whittled their hole down to one possession four times in the second half, eventually breaking through and re-taking the lead on a Geschke bucket with 11:56 to go. That lead lasted all of 19 seconds and IWU would remain in front the rest of the way. Goshen’s final approach would come when Colton Noel hit the front end of two free throws at the 8:39 mark to come within 70-68: IWU answered with a 24-6 blitz over the next 4:45 to break the game open.
Jacob Johnson scored a game-high 27 points for IWU, including two-thirds of the run that effectively ended the game (Goshen would outscore the Wildcats 9-8 over the last four minutes). He got to that mark with 10-of-11 shooting, including a perfect 7-for-7 inside the arc, for a team that finished at 53 percent (35-for-66) from the floor. Goshen hit 30 of its 63 shots for a 48 percent clip.
IWU added to their shooting touch with two dozen foul shots; despite the difference of one foul between the teams, the hosts made nine more free throws. Grant Smith was a perfect 8-for-8 at the line off the bench for IWU while Primerano and Geschke combined to go 13-of-16 for GC.
Goshen’s Alhassan Barrie led all players with 12 rebounds, including five cleanings of the offensive glass. Ben Carlson also fetched double-digit caroms for IWU, which came out ahead in the rebounding totals by the slimmest of margins, 38-37. Carlson led all players with five assists; four Wildcats and two Maple Leafs added three each.
Heath-Granger added two steals for GC, giving him 150 for his career and moving him within two of Chad Stoltzfus for the ninth-most in school history. The Indianapolis native added six rebounds, one shy of his career high, and three assists.
Goshen plays its second straight top-five opponent on Saturday when it pays a visit to number-three Saint Francis at the Hutzell Athletic Center in Fort Wayne. Tip-off is set for approximately 3 p.m. in the second half of a doubleheader: the GC women play USF at 1.