UPLAND, Ind. – Kevin Sacas came off the bench to pour in 33 points on 16-of-20 shooting as No. 2 Indiana Wesleyan Men's Basketball powered past IU East, 102-81, on Thursday in a neutral site game at Taylor University. Sacas and Brady Scholl combined for 60 points, fueling a dominant 72-24 edge in the paint. The Wildcats also took care of the ball, committing just eight turnovers. After the Red Wolves pulled even at 20-20 midway through the first half, back-to-back Isaac Andrews 3-pointers put IWU ahead for good. The red and grey shot 56.4 percent from the floor and moved to 5-0.
THE ESSENTIALS
- Location: Upland, Ind. | Taylor University
- Records: IWU 5-0 | IUE 1-4
- NAIA Top 25 Rankings: IWU – #2 | IUE – Unranked
FIRST HALF
- IU East struck first on a Joshua Banks 3-pointer. Andrews gave IWU its first lead at 4-3 with a fast-break layup.
- The teams traded the lead through the opening 10 minutes. Chris Owens' putback off a steal gave the Red Wolves an 18-17 edge, and Demerius Shakur's free throws tied it at 20-20 at 11:18.
- Andrews answered immediately with a 3-pointer, giving IWU a 23-20 lead it never relinquished.
- After a Lethaniel Foster Jr. 3-pointer cut the margin to 29-28, the Wildcats went on a 7-0 run. Sacas scored inside, and Scholl added a three-point play and two free throws.
- Scholl and Sacas took over around the rim the rest of the half. Scholl's jumper at 1:51 made it 44-33, and Sacas scored in the final minute to send IWU into the break ahead 46-37.
- The pair accounted for 31 of IWU's 46 first-half points, with Sacas scoring 16 and Scholl 15.
SECOND HALF
- Scholl scored three baskets in the first two minutes as the Wildcats opened the half with a 10-2 burst. Parker Hovey's layup from Cameron pushed the lead to 56-39 and forced an IUE timeout.
- Sacas kept attacking the basket, scoring three straight IWU field goals. He capped the stretch with a 3-pointer from Marcus Ankney that made it 73-51 at 12:32.
- The Red Wolves answered with six straight points from Banks, but Scholl, Ankney and Hovey responded to keep the margin at 20.
- Sacas then strung together three more consecutive baskets in less than a minute. Hovey followed with a three-point play at 6:11 for a 90-64 lead, IWU's largest of the night.
- Matthew Brown pushed the Wildcats past the century mark with a layup at 1:15. Jaxon Salenbien added a jumper with 15 seconds left to close out the 102-81 win.
KEY WILDCATS
- Kevin Sacas: 33 points, 16-20 FG, 7 rebounds
- Brady Scholl: 27 points, 12-17 FG, 7 rebounds, 2 assists
- Parker Hovey: 11 points, 4-5 FG, 3-3 FT
- Chief Cameron: 9 points, 4-5 FG, 4 assists, 3 steals
TEAM COMPARISON
- Field Goals: IWU 44-78 (56.4%) | IUE 27-60 (45.0%)
- 3-Pointers: IWU 3-15 (20.0%) | IUE 10-25 (40.0%)
- Free Throws: IWU 11-15 (73.3%) | IUE 17-26 (65.4%)
- Rebounds: IWU 41 (13 offensive) | IUE 35 (10 offensive)
- Assists: IWU 13 | IUE 12
- Turnovers: IWU 8 | IUE 18
- Steals: IWU 10 | IUE 6
- Points Off Turnovers: IWU 14 | IUE 9
- Second-Chance Points: IWU 13 | IUE 12
- Points in the Paint: IWU 72 | IUE 24
- Bench Points: IWU 45 | IUE 40
NEXT TIME OUT
- The Wildcats will have another game tomorrow in Upland, Ind. at 2:30PM against Washington Adventist University.
- Links for live video and stats are available at IWUWildcats.com.
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