Men's Basketball Unable to Keep Pace with Warriors

(Lansing, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team kicked off the New Year with a home game against the Rochester Christian Warriors, but would fall 96-77 Saturday afternoon in Lansing.

Nick Ellis got the Cougars on the board with a made layup, but the Warriors would take the lead on their first possession after hitting a three.  Five minutes later, and with Cleary trailing 7-4, Brian Everhart would make a layup, cutting the deficit to one point.  Cleary would get a defensive stop, allowing Nick Ellis to hit a jumper to give the Cougars a lead.  RCU would retake the lead, but it would be short lived, as Brian Everhart would go coast to coast to make it 10-9 in favor of the Cougars.  After a media timeout, Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would hit a jumper to give Cleary a 14-11 lead.  Zane Kemp would convert an and-one and the free throw to make the score 17-13, giving the Cougars their largest lead of the game.  RCU would cut into the lead, but Zane Kemp answered with another layup, to make the score 19-16.  RCU would tie the game, and go on a run, and by the 5:43 mark of the half, the Cougars found themselves trailing by ten points.  Jacob Mueller would hit back to back baskets, helping to get the Cougars back within striking distance, but the Warriors would finish the half strong, and held a 48-37 lead at the break.

The Warriors would start the second half right where they left off, scoring the first four points of the second half, and building a fifteen point lead.  Jacob Mueller and Bennie Crenshaw Jr. would answer with four quck points of their own.  Moments later, and with the Cougars trailing 56-44, Isaiah Bailey converted an and-one and the free throw to get the Cougars back within ten points.  The next five minutes would see the two teams trade baskets, with Cleary unable to get closer than the nine point difference.  With 11:06 to play in the game, RCU would go on a dagger of a run, and opened up an eighteen point difference by the 8:00 minute mark of the game.  Cleary would stop the bleeding to prevent RCU from extending their lead further, but were unable to get the stops down the stretch to make a final push of their own, falling by a 96-77 score.

Bennie Crenshaw Jr. and Jacob Mueller would each score 12 points to lead the Cougars, with Crenshaw adding 5 rebounds and 3 assists, and Mueller grabbing 6 rebounds.  Zane Kemp would score 11 points in his official season debut.

The loss drops Cleary's record to 5-8 overall, 4-4 in the WHAC.  The Cougars will look to bounce back on Wednesday, January 7, when they travel to take on the UNOH Racers.  The game is set to begin at 7:30 PM.