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Sunday, November 22, 2009

College Basketball: UF win streak snapped
Diamond Mine Direct
By BRIAN LESTER

STAFF WRITER

INDIANAPOLIS -- With a little under 20 minutes before tip-off Saturday night, the University of Findlay men's basketball team took the floor at Nicoson Hall for its pre-game warmups.

But the taunting one would expect from a raucous student section with the defending NCAA Division II national champions in town did not exist. There were barely 200 fans in the arena because of Thanksgiving break.

The Oilers needed to generate their own energy on the road, and that turned out to be a daunting task against an Indianapolis team salivating over the opportunity to knock off UF in a contest between two solid Midwest Region teams.

In the end, the fourth-ranked Oilers saw their 38-game win streak hit a wall in a 71-63 non-conference loss to the Greyhounds.

“I told (teammate) Tyler Sparks that I forgot what it was like to lose because it's been so long,” junior guard Nathan Hyde said. “I don't like it. But we'll get back up and move forward. This is an experience we will learn from.”

UF head coach Ron Niekamp echoed those thoughts as he glanced over a statistics sheet that showed the Oilers (2-1 overall) shot 35.9 percent (23-of-64) from the field and turned the ball over 16 times. Hyde led the way with 18 points and freshman forward Jack Smith scored 12 points and 9 rebounds.

“There was a lot of good in this game even though we lost,” Niekamp said. “The young players learned how to handle a new challenge and they gained valuable experience. It's all part of the maturation process for this team. We'll take the positives and build on them.”

The game was a challenge from the start as the Oilers faced their most stern test since a 56-53 overtime win over Cal Poly Pomona in a riveting national final in March.

Marcus Parker (8 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists) faced double teams every time he brought the ball up the floor early in the game as the Greyhounds did their best to disrupt UF's offensive flow. It worked well as the Oilers missed shots inside and turned over the ball. Indianapolis (2-1) capitalized as it built a 12-4 lead.

“Their game plan was to stop Marcus and take him out of the game. They did a very good job of executing it,” Niekamp said. “They have a very athletic team and nothing came easy against them.”

And yet, the Oilers responded behind Hyde. The former Liberty-Benton standout drained a pair of 3-pointers that helped UF tie the game at 12-12.

Hyde would hit two more treys in the first half, his fourth giving the Oilers a 23-20 lead. But Indy would not back down.

Both teams hustled for loose balls and rebounds, and the relentless play made it clear that this wasn't just another regular season encounter.

“It seemed like once we woke up, we played pretty hard,” Hyde said. “Had we just been able to make a few more plays down the stretch, we might have been able to win this game.”

Devin Williams nailed Indy's first 3-pointer to cut the UF deficit to 31-29 with just over a minute to play in the half. Parker missed a layup in the final seconds, but UF led by two at the break.

The Oilers then struggled early in the second half. An Indy team that had made only one trey in the first half, got two quick 3-pointers from Darius Adams and DeWann Squires.

Enter UF's Greg Avery, the transfer from Western Carolina.

The sophomore forward rose to the occasion time and again, nailing a trey in the corner and making two layups that trimmed Indy's lead to 41-38 with 14 minutes left in the game. He got several big rebounds as well during the stretch as UF rallied.

Avery (9 points, 6 rebounds) would have to come out of the game with a cut on his arm, and while trainer Amy Will treated the wound, the Oilers did their best to keep up with the Greyhounds.

JoVaughn Brown did his part, knifing into the lane for a short jumper that put UF ahead 44-43. The Greyhounds pushed their advantage to 48-44 on a free throw by Woods with 9:40 to play.

With 6:38 left, the Oilers trailed 55-45 and had gone nearly five minutes without a field goal.

Hyde broke the drought with a driving layup, cutting the deficit to eight, but the Oilers never got closer than four the rest of the way. The dagger was a layup and free throw by Larry Woods that gave Indy a 65-57 advantage with 50 seconds to play.

“I told our players that the most startling thing is that we were still in the game even though we struggled to finish plays,” Niekamp said. “We got some opportunities but couldn't convert at any reasonable rate.”

Indy's players wore wide smiles as the final seconds ticked away and the Oilers could only look on with blank stares as they were dealt their first loss (75-58) since the 2008 Midwest Regional final against Grand Valley State.

Indy shot 41.7 percent (25-of-60) from the field and out-rebounded UF 44-39. The Greyhounds turned the ball over 18 times. Junior guard Darius Adams led the way with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward DeWann Squires scored 18 points.

“This was a great win for our program,” said Indy head coach Stan Gouard, whose team was just 10-19 last season. “Findlay is a great team and I challenged our guys to play our best. To be the best, you have to beat the best. We did that tonight.”

But the Oilers understand nothing will come easy, not only because of the target on their backs, but also because they have a great deal of inexperienced players.

“This was our first real road challenge, and you saw the results of not being able to convert at the end,” Hyde said. “But we are going to get better. We can learn from our mistakes and build on this experience.”



findlay (63)

Avery 4-12 0-1 9, Marsden 3-7 1-2 7, Coon 0-1 2-2 2, Hyde 5-10 4-4 18, Parker 3-10 2-2 8, Smith 5-11 2-2 12, Robinson 0-5 0-0 0, Brown 1-5 1-2 3, Wehri 0-0 0-0 0, Agunga 2-3 0-2 4. TOTALS: 23-64 12-17 63.

indianapolis (71)

Blank 3-9 4-4 10, Squires 6-12 5-7 18, Woods 6-8 2-3 14, Sims 0-7 0-0 0, Adams 6-14 6-6 19, Knight 0-1 0-0 0, Williams 2-4 0-0 5, Struck 2-5 1-2 5. TOTALS: 25-60 18-22 71.

HALFTIME: Findlay, 31-29.

3-Point GOALS: Findlay 5-17 (Hyde 4-8, Avery 1-2, Coon 0-1, Smith 0-1, Brown 0-1, Parker 0-2, Robinson 0-2). Indianapolis 3-18 (Squires 1-2, Williams 1-2, Adams 1-4, Struck 0-1, Blank 0-4, Sims 0-5).

rebounds: Findlay 39 (Smith 9, Marsden 7); Indianapolis 44 (Adams 10, Woods 8).

ASSISTS: Findlay 8 (Parker 4); Indianapolis 15 (Blank 7, Adams 5).

STEALS: Findlay 8 (Parker 3); Indianapolis 4 (Williams 2).

BLOCKS: Findlay 2, Indianapolis 1.

turnovers: Findlay 16, Indianapolis 18.

TOTAL FOULS: Findlay 24, Indianapolis 18.

FOULED OUT: None.

Lester: 419-422-5151,

Send an e-mail to Brian Lester


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