-

Saturday, December 4, 2010

Grizzly defense key to 65-58 RMAC-opening victory

PUEBLO, Colo.- Shayar Lee (Phoenix, Ariz.) tallied a team-high 16 points while fellow junior Jamiko Verner (Denver, Colo.) dished out an impressive nine assists as the Adams State College Grizzlies played their best defensive game of the young season, posting a 65-57 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opening men's basketball victory on the road over Colorado State University-Pueblo, Friday night here in Massari Arena.

The Grizzlies, now 4-0 overall, held the ThunderWolves (1-2, 0-1 RMAC) to a 28.1 percent (16-57) shooting effort and forced 20 turnovers overcoming a sub-par 50.0 percent (14-28) effort from the free throw line as the ThunderWolves stayed in the game until a 9-0 Grizzly run down the stretch helped put the win away.

"When you win on the road in conference, that's what matters," Grizzly first-year head coach Louis Wilson said in a post-game radio interview.

The Grizzlies, who were playing an NCAA Division II foe for the first time this season after taking on three non-NCAA members in the early season, also received 14 points from Deray Wilson (Anchorage, Alaska) off the bench in the win that saw them play with the lead for more than 33 straight minutes.

The Grizzlies took the lead for good when Robby Hanzlik (Denver, Colo.) and Verner each hit treys quickly swinging a 7-4 deficit into a 10-7 lead with 13:25 to go in the first half.

Despite watching the ThunderWolves hit 14 of 20 first half free throws while managing just four charity stripe points on eight attempts in the first half, the Grizzlies' ever-changing and tenacious defense that included some match-up zone guarding, helped ASC build a 32-20 lead with 3:09 to go in the first half, the largest of the night.

"I do think the changing of our defenses caused them some rhythm problems," Coach Wilson said.  "We won tonight because we guarded at a high level."

However, the ThunderWolves took advantage of four of the Grizzlies' respectable 14 turnovers in the latter stages of the first half and were within seven (32-25) at the break.

The hosts, who had shot at just a 21.7 percent (5-23) clip in the opening 20 minutes, then gradually picked away at the deficit and were within 40-38 on a Nathan Tigner 3-pointer with 10:58 left in the second stanza before Grizzly senior Seth Heinbaugh (Prescott Valley, Ariz.)  answered with a 3-pointer of his own before adding a layup just 1:29 later as the Grizzlies went back up by nine (47-38).

The Pack did not go away and pulled within two twice more, but could never get over the hump as two Wilson free throws and a 3-point play by Verner helped ASC build the lead back up to as many as 11 with less than a minute to go en-route to the victory

The Grizzlies, who had been averaging 92.3 points per game coming in, shot just 39.0 percent (23-59) from the field but scored nearly half (32) of their points from inside the paint while posting a 32-19 edge in bench scoring.  Tigner had 12 of those bench points for CSU-Pueblo while Kris Lawrie tallied 16 points in a starting role.  However, both CSU-Pueblo players were guilty of five turnovers.

"We didn't play our best basketball, Wilson said.  "Honestly, they managed to set the tempo, but we won and that's what matters."

The ThunderWolves finished the night with a 49-41 edge in total rebounds, including a 14-8 edge on the offensive end.  Daniel Pierce, averaging a double-double, increased his RMAC lead in rebounding with 14 while Heinbaugh, sophomore Jack Osborn (Hobart, Tasmania, Australia) and senior Nate Ingbretson (Castle Rock, Colo.) had six each for a more balanced Grizzly squad.

Heinbaugh is now just two rebounds away from the 500 mark for his career.

The Grizzlies, who have now won eight straight games dating back to last season, were victorious in the Steel City for just the fourth time in 34 all-time tries and snapped a 4-game overall slide against the Pack, coached by ASC career 3-point record holder Patrick Eberhart, a 1991 ASC alum.

The Grizzlies will now look for their first 5-game winning streak in three years when they take on another ASC alum in Russ Caton's University of Colorado-Colorado Springs Mountain Lion squad on Saturday at 8 p.m.  Notably, that streak included three wins in Colorado Springs, including a 71-55 victory over the Mountain Lions, the last of the five straight wins.

This year's Mountain Lion squad (2-3) dropped a 78-65 decision to Preseason RMAC favorite Fort Lewis in their conference opener at home in the Gallogly Center, Friday.

Visit ascgrizzlies.com for the latest news and info on Adams State College Athletics.

No comments:

Post a Comment