The Colonels had their biggest win of the season Feb. 4 in Stopher Gym dominating top-ranked Stephen F. Austin 57-50 in front of a packed student section.Sophomore Anatoly Bose scored first for the Colonels in the first two of the game. Then the Colonels forced a turnover and scored, cutting Stephen F. Austin’s lead to one-point with 1 second left in the half with a score 21 to 20.
Senior Justin Payne and sophomore Kellan Carter continued their steal success each having one in the first half.
The Colonels were perfect in free throw percentage compared to Stephen F. Austin’s 80 percent.
Stephen F. Austin’s biggest lead of the half was by five at the 4:52 mark while the Colonels’ largest was by 2 at the 16:18 mark of the game.
Both the Colonels and Stephen F. Austin managed to score 4 points respectively off of turnovers. The Colonels had seven turnovers to Stephen F. Austin’s eight.
“We focused on defense,” Bose said. “We are a defensive team and that is our structure.”
The large student section played an influential part in the game. With four minutes left in the game, Bose forced two turnovers for lay-ups by Bathie and Carter. A rebound by sophomore Dominic Friend allowed Payne a clear 3-point shot. By the 2:52 mark, the Colonels had increased their lead to 45-32.
“It was tremendous to see that crowd and for them to be as active in the game as they were made a huge difference for us,” Head Coach J.P. Piper said. “We fed off of the eruptions from the crowd and it really got our guys excited.”
The Colonels held Stephen F. Austin to 32 points from the 6:03 point in the game until the 2:38 point in the game.
“We knew if we stopped Josh Alexander and Matt Kingsley we would have a good chance at winning the game,” Bose said.
The Colonels were able to stop Alexander holding him to two points the entire game. Alexander scored his only two points on a dunk with 2:38 left in the game. Kingsley was the high scorer for Stephen F. Austin with a total of 17 points followed by Nick Shaw with 14 points.
“It was an unbelievable atmosphere,” Piper said. “We tell our guys that if you work hard enough and if you do things the right way, eventually you start to have some success and people will come out to support your effort.”
Bose recorded a double-double with 23 points and 10 rebounds. This was Bose’s third of the season.
The Colonels’ defense as well as smart offensive plays lead them to a 57-50 victory and put them on their way to getting into the conference tournament.
The Colonels took on Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Saturday and were defeated 69-68.
Bathie was in foul trouble with 2:34 left in the first half. Up to this point, he was 3-6 in field goal shots, 0-2 in three point shots, and 2-2 in free throws as well as obtaining three rebounds and eight points.
For most of the first half, the Colonels as well as Texas A&M Corpus Christi impressively remained above 50 percent in all categories of shooting, which includes field goals, three point shots, and free throws. By the end of the half, the Colonels dropped below 50 percent in three point shots.
Both the Colonels and Texas A&M were up by five points at some point in the half, with Texas A&M at the 15:41 mark and the Colonels at the four minute mark.
Two minutes into the second half, Bathie found himself with another foul for a total for four. Friend was sent in the game to help.
With the score tied six times and the lead changed nine times, this game closely matched the intensity of their game against Stephen F. Austin.
The Colonels battled from a six point deficit to take the lead at 14:27 with a score of 45-43.
Freshman Fred Hunter contributed big plays for the Colonels by making second chance shots, three point shots, steals, and fast breaks. There were moments in the game where he “took one for the team.” He found himself with 25 points (8-10 field goals, 2-2 three point shots, and 7-9 free throws) at the end of the game as well as one steal and three rebounds.
Hunter had his fifth 20+ scoring game of the season.
There was a sense of nervousness and anticipation to see if the Colonels would come up with a win again in Stopher gym. Spectators were literally on the edge of their seats riding on every officials call as well as every play of the game.
The crowd stood with a minute and a half left to play. The teams kept changing leads as well as tying the game. With 37 seconds left, Texas A&M took the lead, 66-67.
With a second difference in shot clock and game clock, a Texas A&M player fouled which caused Justin Payne to shoot two foul shots. Making both, Payne put the Colonels up by one.
Carter fouled Texas A&M player, Kevin Palmer, and he made both free throws to put Texas A&M up by one with a score of 68-69 with 3 seconds left.
Payne’s last-ditch half court shot was short ending the Colonels winning streak.
“I told the guys that I was thrilled with their effort, their intensity and their passion today out on the floor,” said Piper. “They have nothing to be discouraged about. That effort will get you a win more often than it gets you a loss and I think we proved that we belong with the best in the Southland Conference. It was a war. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys.”
The Colonels take on the Southeastern Lions on Sat. Feb. 14 in Stopher Gym with a tip-off time of 3 p.m. The last match-up between these teams was on Jan. 31 with the Colonels winning the game 68-65.
Ryan Bathie maneuvers the ball around a Texas A&M player at Saturday’s game inside Stopher Gym. The Colonels won the game 57-50. (Kyrie Judeh)
