Cougar News
Men's Basketball - Sat, Jan 21, 2012
HENDERSON, Tenn. - This is a feeling that the Mid-Continent University men's basketball has been waiting to experience for a while.
The Cougars (3-16, 2-4) weathered a charge from the Freed-Hardeman Lions (13-7, 3-3) over the final 10 minutes of their contest on Saturday, with Charles Peden capping off a double-double performance with a three-point play to seal the Cougars' win with just 37 seconds to go in the game.Freed-Hardeman led just once in the first half, as the Cougars came out on fire. Peden scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half, while Marcus Bowins added seven more to push the Cougars to the early lead. Mid-Continent attacked the Lion defense, scoring from all over in the first half, Mid-Continent saw their lead to swell to 14 points with five minutes to play in the half, but Freed-Hardeman answered. The Lions scored on their last three possessions of the period, trimming into the Cougars' lead, and at the half, the margin stood at just six points. Mid-Continent came out quickly again in the second half, taking control of the game once again and prompting the Lions to make a change. Freed-Hardeman switched to a zone defense that frustrated the Cougars in stretches of the period, allowing the Lions to chip away at the lead and get back in the game. As the game got tighter, the Cougars began to press a little on the offensive end. With less than five minutes remaining on the clock, the Lions reclaimed the lead with a 13-0 run at 67-65. The teams swapped the lead twice, and with just over four minutes to play, the Lions tied things up at 72-72. As the game wound down, the teams traded miscues, until Jonathan Milewski was fouled on a three-point attempt with 2:58 to play. Milewski made just one of the three charity tosses, but after an offensive foul was whistled on the Cougars, Milewski drained a jumper from the left elbow to put Freed-Hardeman up three 75-72. A Chris Ferguson free throw and a hook shot from Steve McBorrough on consecutive trips pulled the Cougars even with 2:00 to play, but with 1:07 left, Kyle Teichmann scored on a putback to give the Lions the lead back. That set up the Cougars' Peden. Peden drove in and scored to tie the contest with 37 seconds on the clock, and he was fouled by Chandler Mack in the process. Freed-Hardeman called a timeout, but Peden drained the free throw out of the timeout to put MCU up one, 78-77. In the final half-minute, Freed-Hardeman missed four shots, the last of which came with two seconds on the clock. The Cougars called a timeout to draw up a play to inbound the ball that they executed to perfection, hanging on for the 78-77 win.
Peden and McBorrough each had double-doubles in the game. Peden scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while McBorrough scored 10 points and grabbed 12 boards. Chris Ferguson (13) and Marcus Johnson (10) were in double figures as well for the Cougars. Both teams shot the ball well from the floor, with the Cougars posting a mark of 31-for-64 (48.4%) and the Lions shooting 29-for-72 (40.3%) overall. Mid-Continent connected on 7-of-20 (35%) three-pointers, while Freed-Hardeman hit 10-of-23 (43/5%) from behind the three-point line, however the difference in the game was at the line. The Cougars shot a respectable 9-for-14 (64.3%) from the stripe, but the Lions made only nine of their 19 foul shots, a dismal 47.4-percent performance.
Mid-Continent will look to build off the momentum of their victory on Thursday night when they open a three game home stand. The Cougars will host Blue Mountain College (7-11, 0-6). Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
The Cougars (3-16, 2-4) weathered a charge from the Freed-Hardeman Lions (13-7, 3-3) over the final 10 minutes of their contest on Saturday, with Charles Peden capping off a double-double performance with a three-point play to seal the Cougars' win with just 37 seconds to go in the game.Freed-Hardeman led just once in the first half, as the Cougars came out on fire. Peden scored 11 of his 17 points in the first half, while Marcus Bowins added seven more to push the Cougars to the early lead. Mid-Continent attacked the Lion defense, scoring from all over in the first half, Mid-Continent saw their lead to swell to 14 points with five minutes to play in the half, but Freed-Hardeman answered. The Lions scored on their last three possessions of the period, trimming into the Cougars' lead, and at the half, the margin stood at just six points. Mid-Continent came out quickly again in the second half, taking control of the game once again and prompting the Lions to make a change. Freed-Hardeman switched to a zone defense that frustrated the Cougars in stretches of the period, allowing the Lions to chip away at the lead and get back in the game. As the game got tighter, the Cougars began to press a little on the offensive end. With less than five minutes remaining on the clock, the Lions reclaimed the lead with a 13-0 run at 67-65. The teams swapped the lead twice, and with just over four minutes to play, the Lions tied things up at 72-72. As the game wound down, the teams traded miscues, until Jonathan Milewski was fouled on a three-point attempt with 2:58 to play. Milewski made just one of the three charity tosses, but after an offensive foul was whistled on the Cougars, Milewski drained a jumper from the left elbow to put Freed-Hardeman up three 75-72. A Chris Ferguson free throw and a hook shot from Steve McBorrough on consecutive trips pulled the Cougars even with 2:00 to play, but with 1:07 left, Kyle Teichmann scored on a putback to give the Lions the lead back. That set up the Cougars' Peden. Peden drove in and scored to tie the contest with 37 seconds on the clock, and he was fouled by Chandler Mack in the process. Freed-Hardeman called a timeout, but Peden drained the free throw out of the timeout to put MCU up one, 78-77. In the final half-minute, Freed-Hardeman missed four shots, the last of which came with two seconds on the clock. The Cougars called a timeout to draw up a play to inbound the ball that they executed to perfection, hanging on for the 78-77 win.
Peden and McBorrough each had double-doubles in the game. Peden scored 17 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, while McBorrough scored 10 points and grabbed 12 boards. Chris Ferguson (13) and Marcus Johnson (10) were in double figures as well for the Cougars. Both teams shot the ball well from the floor, with the Cougars posting a mark of 31-for-64 (48.4%) and the Lions shooting 29-for-72 (40.3%) overall. Mid-Continent connected on 7-of-20 (35%) three-pointers, while Freed-Hardeman hit 10-of-23 (43/5%) from behind the three-point line, however the difference in the game was at the line. The Cougars shot a respectable 9-for-14 (64.3%) from the stripe, but the Lions made only nine of their 19 foul shots, a dismal 47.4-percent performance.
Mid-Continent will look to build off the momentum of their victory on Thursday night when they open a three game home stand. The Cougars will host Blue Mountain College (7-11, 0-6). Tip-off is scheduled for 8 p.m.
