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Men ready to start NCC play
They never even looked like they had a chance. They were shorter, and looked weak compared to the mightier opponent. No, this isn’t another story about a weaker team pulling off a stunning upset. Central College looked every bit like the weaker squad against the SCSU men’s basketball team Saturday night.
SCSU overcame a slow start, and pummeled the lowly Dutchmen, 88-50. The Huskies are now off to a 4-0 start going into next Friday’s NCC opener against the University of South Dakota. The Huskies held a rather large height advantage over Central, but that didn’t stop the Dutchmen from making a game of it early on.
Both teams looked lethargic at the beginning of the game, with the first field goal not being hit until 15:26 remaining in the first half.
SCSU led the entire first half, and the whole game, but Central got within 21-19 on two Jim Barclay free throws. But the Huskies went on a 15-4 run the rest of the half to take a 36-23 lead. Two junior forwards were key during this stretch. Jason Kron’s three-point play, and Alan Persinger’s tip-in seemed to deflate the Dutchmen’s drive.
The slow start is something the Huskies want to try to not make a habit of. Along with being out rebounded 21-18 at the half, by a smaller squad.
“Without a doubt we came out flat,” Kron said. “We forced a few shots and weren’t clicking on all cylinders. We put a run together before halftime and worked some of that stuff out though. If your offense comes out flat, you can at least rely on your defense. There’s no excuse for your defense to ever have an off night. There’s some nights when the shots just don’t fall, but your defense can always be good.”
The Huskies defense was evident all night, but was especially prevalent during the second half. They held Central to 29 percent shooting for the night, forced 21 turnovers, and eventually out-muscled the Dutchmen in rebounding, 44-41.
SCSU’s offense began its awakening during the mini-run in the first half, but became fully aware in the second frame. The Huskies shot 56 percent from the field in the second half, and 48 percent for the contest.
They also went 6 of 12 from downtown, after a one-for-eight first half. They outscored Central, 52-27, as every player on the SCSU roster saw action.
“Our execution offensively was better in the second half,” head coach Kevin Schlagel said. “We got a lot better looks. The first half we were dribble penetrating, rather than passing and hitting the open man. We passed the ball a lot better in the second half.”
“We just took it upon ourselves that we had to start doing something, otherwise it was going to be a long night,” junior guard Forrest Witt said. “To everyone’s credit, we did that.”
Kron led the Huskies with 13 points and 13 rebounds. Witt and senior center Andy Johnson both had 11 points. Alex Carlson chipped in 10 points, five assists, and four steals. Tony Polito had a game high 14 points for the Dutchmen.
SCSU got a boost when senior post Rado Rancik made his season debut. Expected to be out another week, Rancik appeared with 4:37 left to play in the first half. He only played eight minutes, and scored one point, but he was definitely glad to shake some of the rust off prior to next week’s conference opener.
“I’m feeling OK, a little stiff, but I’ve been working hard to come back,” he said. “I’m a little rusty. I’m just going to try and work through it and not dwell on anything. I got the jitters out, and now I have to prepare for next week.”
“Rado’s our stabilizer to our inside game,” Kron said. “He’s a guy, night in and night out, you can rely on to score points in the paint. As soon as he gets the rust shaken off, it will be a big addition.”
The Huskies now have the week to prepare for Friday night’s clash. Still being early on in the season, SCSU still has a few things to work on, namely, getting off to a much faster pace.
“We just have to work out the crinkles,” Kron said. “We have to be running smoothly and come out and not have any mistakes. We can’t have those next week because they might cost us the game.”
Andy Rennecke can be reached at: [email protected]
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