Cougars Outscore Goshen by 20 in Second Half for Third Straight Victory
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Saint Francis (Ind.) (7-4; 1-2) | 47 | 53 | 100 |
|
Goshen (1-7; 0-3) | 44 | 33 | 77 |
FORT WAYNE, Ind. – On Wednesday evening the University of Saint Francis Cougars (6-4; 0-2 Crossroads) traveled to Goshen, Indiana to take on the Goshen College Maple Leafs (1-6; 0-2 Crossroads) and came away with a 100-77 victory.
After rebounding over the weekend with a couple of wins down in Tennessee, the Cougars were anxious to get back out and resume conference play.
In the first half scoring was at a premium. The Cougars and Maple Leafs got out to a back-and-forth battle in the opening minutes with the score tied at 12 just five minutes into the game.
But Goshen then found some momentum and took a five-point lead over Saint Francis over the next couple of minutes, but the Cougars answered right back, scoring six unanswered points to regain the lead 20-19.
Midway through the first half the Cougars trailed 22-21 but remained determined.
Saint Francis went on to score eight more unanswered points to take a 36-31 lead over the Maple Leafs and built their lead to as big as seven points with just two minutes left in the first half.
The game went to halftime with Saint Francis leading 47-44. Saint Francis had a shooting percentage of 58 percent from the floor going 21-for-38.
Heading into the second half, the Cougars picked up where they left off this time scoring the first seven points of the frame to take a double-digit lead ahead 54-44 less than two minutes into the frame.
From there Saint Francis set the tone as they went on to outscore Goshen 53-33 during the second half and earn a 23-point victory for their first conference win of the season.
Throughout the game, the Cougars shot 56 percent from the floor, 46 percent from beyond the three-point line, and 89 percent from the free throw line. Senior guard Dan McKeeman along with sophomore guard Zane Burke and freshman guard Branden Northern combined to score 67 points among the three of them, each surpassing 20 points for the game.
The Cougars resume play on Saturday afternoon when they travel to Winona Lake, Indiana to take on the No. 3 Grace College Lancers (8-0; 2-0 Crossroads) beginning at 3:00 pm.
Cougar fans, stay updated with all events and recaps with USF Athletics by visiting Saintfranciscougars.com or by downloading the Saint Francis Cougars app.
