Basketball goes through up and down winter
Posted by The Skyliner on January 28th, 2009Cory Guinn
Staff Writer
Kyler Booher, sophomore broadcast media, pulls up for a jump shot against Brevard on Saturday. (Photo by Antwan Glenn/The Skyliner)
The North Greenville University men’s basketball team put in hard work over the Christmas break, and it paid off on Tuesday, Jan. 20. The Crusaders took on Montreat College in Hayes Gymnasium and came away with a convincing 93-81 victory.
NGU dominated in the paint and on the boards throughout the game. They also got to the free throw line on a consistent basis and shot 56 percent from the floor. The key for the Crusaders was head coach Chad Lister’s decision to confuse the Cavalier offense by switching up defenses almost every time down the floor.
“Coach Lister switched it up on defense to keep them off balance and cause some turnovers which worked for us,” forward Zach Babbitt, sophomore business administration, said. “We kept up the intensity and did a good job down the stretch which helped us pull off the win.”
Babbitt led the team scoring a career high 27 points and adding five rebounds. Forward Kyler Vitko, junior sports management, had a double-double finishing with 23 points and 13 rebounds, while center Paul Harrison, freshman sports management, scored 20 points. Jason Wray, freshman biology, came off the bench to score six points and dish out five assists.
The North Greenville women’s basketball team worked hard over the break as well and put their work ethic on display against Southern Wesleyan University on Nov. 20. The Lady Crusaders played a back and forth game against the Lady Warriors and came away with a close 67-65 victory thanks to Amanda Milner’s, senior psychology, go ahead shot with 10 seconds left in the game.
Milner finished the game with 23 points and Christina Carlis, freshman undecided, scored 14 points for NGU.
On Jan. 22, the men traveled to Sumter to take on Morris College. The Crusaders ran into a Hornets team that shot 54 percent from the field and hit 12 three pointers in the game. NGU was unable to get any momentum going on offense leading to a 91-64 loss.
North Greenville was led by Harrison, who finished the game with 16 points and 13 rebounds. Vitko and Babbitt followed close behind with 15 and 10 points, respectively.
The Lady Crusaders played Morris College on Jan. 22 with hopes of putting together two wins in a row. North Greenville shot just 24 percent in the first half, which led to a large halftime deficit. NGU put on a furious second half rally but came up short losing to MC 80-67.
“We couldn’t throw it in the ocean in the first half,” NGU head coach Jayne Arledge said. “We dug a really big hole and did everything we could to get back in it, but just couldn’t get it under 10 points. We just had an off shooting night.”
Karly Stache, freshman undecided, led the way offensively with 18 points while Milner had 15 points and guard Nikki Wood, junior psychology, finished with 10 points.
The North Greenville men matched up against Brevard in a weekend match up on Jan. 24 in Hayes Gymnasium. A poor shooting effort by NGU led to a 66-44 defeat at the hands of their in-state rivals.
NGU (5-9) shot just 27 percent from the field and was unable to hit a three-pointer in the game. Vitko was the only Crusader in double figures finishing with 10 points and seven rebounds.
The Lady Crusaders (9-9) also took on rival Brevard on Jan. 24 but the game ended with a similar result. The Tornadoes fought off a furious second half rally to defeat NGU 81-76.
Stache led the offense once again for North Greenville knocking down eight shots from behind the arc and finishing with 24 points for the game. Carlis had a complete game, dishing out eight assists, pulling down nine rebounds and having three steals. Milner and guard Bridgett Smith, senior sports management, both scored 15 points in the game and Mindy Greenstone, senior early childhood education, had 13 points.
The NGU men took on Warren Wilson College last night and their next game will be Thursday, Jan. 29 at Limestone at 7:30 p.m. The NGU women will play their next game tonight at Lincoln Memorial University in Harrogate, Tenn., at 6 p.m.