Second Half Surge Powers Men's Basketball Past Halftime Hole

(Lansing, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team outscored the Cornerstone University Golden Eagles by twelve points in the second half Saturday, as they would go on to win 79-74 at Gannon Gymnasium.

Jacob Mueller would start the game with a difficult jumper to give the Cougars an early lead.  Cornerstone would answer, and handed the Cougars an 11-4 deficit in the first minutes of game play.  A Bennie Crenshaw Jr. jumper would make it a four point game, and back to back baskets by Jacob Mueller and Brian Everhart would give Cleary a 14-13 lead.  The Golden Eagles would then go on a run, and with 8:11 to play in the half, the Cougars would find themselves trailing 25-16.  Back to back baskets by Chaz Cobbs Jr. and Derrick Miller would cut the deficit to five points, and after an Isaiah Bailey made three pointer, Cleary would only trail by four with the score 27-23.  Cornerstone would once again extend their lead, and it would be a double-digit advantage for the visitors with 2:46 to play in the half.  Trailing by ten, Brian Everhart would push the ball and hit a shot from just past halfcourt to cut into the deficit, and Cleary would trail 40-33 at the break.

After Cornerstone scored the second half's first points, Nick Ellis hit a three to make it a six point game.  Moments later, and trailing by seven, Brian Everhart would be fouled on a three-point attempt, and would connect on all three shots from the charity stripe.  A Nick Ellis layup would make it a one possession game, as Cleary trailed 44-41.  The Golden Eagles would then go on a 7-0 run to rebuild their double-digit advantage with 15:44 to play.  Baskets by Nick Ellis and Brian Everhart kept the Cougars within striking distance, and another Nick Ellis layup made it a one possession game once again.  After going down six points, Trevor Viau would hit a three, and after a defensive stop, Amare Slaughter drove and scored in the paint to make the score 56-55, with Cleary trailing by one with 11:13 to play in the game.  One possession later, Amare Slaughter would give the Cougars their first second half lead after he scored on another layup.  The lead would grow to three points after Derrick Miller connected on a jumper with just under ten minutes left in the game.  The two teams traded punches, but Cleary was able to maintain at least a one point advantage until a Golden Eagle layup with 3:19 to go tied the game at 71-71.  With the score tied 73-73, Brian Everhart hit a contested jump shot to give the Cougars the lead.  After a defensive stop, Isaiah Bailey was fouled, making one of his two free throw attempts, to give the Cougars a 76-73 advantage.  After a foul on the other end, Cornerstone made one of two free throws to make it a two point game.  Isaiah Bailey drew a foul, and made both free throws to ice the game.  Cleary would get one more defensive stop, made another free throw, and secured the victory.

Brian Everhart led the Cougars with 17 points, including 3 three-pointers and while going 6/7 from the free throw line.  Nick Ellis added 15 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists.  No other Cougar would reach double-digits, but all ten players that played scored, and all scored at least four points.

The win over Cornerstone was the first vs. the Golden Eagles in program history.

Cleary improves to 3-6 overall, 3-2 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will be back on the road next Thursday, when they travel to West Michigan to play the Grace Christian Tigers in a non-conference matchup.  The game is scheduled to begin at 7:00 PM.