Men's Basketball Falls After Late Maple Leaf Run

(Goshen, IN)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team was on the road Saturday afternoon, as they took on the Goshen College Maple Leafs in a non-conference matchup.

After a scoreless couple of minutes, Trevor Viau would connect on a pair of free throws to give Cleary an early 2-0 lead.  Goshen would quickly tie the game before Derrick Miller answered with a basket of his own.  The teams traded punches, and with the game tied at 8-8 with 14:55 remaining in the first half, the Maple Leafs would start to pull away, as they went on a quick 6-0 scoring run to take a 14-8 lead.  Cleary clawed back in with a basket from Isaiah Bailey and a pair of Amare Slaughter free throws.  Goshen would respond once again with another run to take a 21-12 lead with 11:48 to play in the half.  That deficit would remain around that margin until the 4:00 mark of the half.  Nick Ellis would hit a basket to cut the deficit to six points, and Jacob Mueller would make a shot to make it 36-32.  After another defensive stop, Isaiah Bailey would score to cut the Maple Leaf lead to two points with 2:38 to go in the half.  After Goshen scored, Isaiah Bailey knocked down a three to make it a one point game.  Both teams traded baskets, but the Maple Leafs would score on their final possession to take a 42-39 lead into the halftime break.

Cleary came out strong in the second half, and it started with an alley-oop from Derrick Miller to Nick Ellis on Cleary's first possession.  Two minutes later, Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would connect on a jumper to tie the game at 44-44, and after a defensive stop, Crenshaw would hit on another jumper to give the Cougars the lead.  The lead grew to four points after Jacob Mueller made a basket.  Goshen would hit a three on the other end, and took the lead once again one possession later to make the score 49-48.  Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would hit from behind the arc to give the Cougars a 51-49 lead.  The Cougars would then go on a scoring run of their own, with an 6-1 run to make the score 57-50 with 12:32 to go.  Goshen would cut the Cougar lead to four points by the ten minute mark of the half, and were able to tie the game at 61-61 with 9:35 to play.  Tim Kewley would do his part with a layup to give Cleary back the lead, but the Maple Leafs would go on a 5-0 run to take the lead back.  Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would knock down a two with 5:26 to play in the game to cut the deficit to 67-65.  After a defensive stop, Crenshaw was fouled, and made one of his two free throws to make the score 67-66.  Goshen once again went on a run, scoring the game's next eight points to make the score 75-66 with 3:10 to play in the game.  Brian Everhart would connect on a pair of free throws, followed by a Jacob Mueller basket with just under a minute to play to make it a five-point game.  Cleary was forced to foul, which resulted in Goshen going 1/2 from the line.  Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would score quickly, to make the score 76-72 with 45 seconds to play in the game.  Cleary would force a turnover on Goshen's next possession, but were unable to score, forcing the Cougars to foul, and allowed the Maple Leafs to extend their lead to 78-72 with 18 seconds to play.  Cleary could not connect on their shot attempts, and the game would end with the same score.

Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would have a team high 18 points to lead the Cougar offense.  Jacob Mueller and Isaiah Bailey each had 9 points and 5 rebounds in the game, while Nick Ellis and Amare Slaughter each had 8 points.

Cleary falls to 0-2, and will travel to legendary Calihan Hall on Tuesday, November 11, to play the NCAA D1 Detroit Mercy Titans.  The game will air on ESPN+, and will tip-off at 7:00 PM.