Pilots sail to 62-52 over 25th ranked Bearcats
December 03, 2004
McKenzie, TN-The LSUS Pilots (6-2) squared off against the 25th ranked Brescia University Bearcats(4-2) in the first game of the McKenzie Rotary Club Classic at neutral site Bethel College in McKenzie, TN Friday night. The Pilots defeated a top 25 team for the second time this year as they went on to defeat the Bearcats 62-52.
Derrick Rogers scored 15 of the Pilots first 18 points and led the Pilots to a 31-22 halftime lead. Rogers finished as the high scorer in the half with 18 points. The Bearcats started the second half on a 7-0 run to cut the Pilot lead to 2 points, but that was as close as the Bearcats would get. After holding Pilots leading scorer Fredericko Payne to only 4 points in the first half, Payne answered with 16 points in the second half despite shooting only 6 of 23 from the field. Payne currently leads the NAIA in steals per game and added 3 tonight to go along with 20 points and 2 assists. Derrick Rogers led all scorers with 25.
Aurimas Truskauskas led all Bearcats scorers with 18 points and collected 10 rebounds for the games only double-double. JT Riddle pitched in with 11 points and 9 rebounds.
"That was a big win for us” commented Pilot coach Chad McDowell. Coming off two losses to NCAA Division I opponents Northwestern State University and Southeastern Louisiana University, the Pilots were in tough to get back in the win column against a very tough Brescia University. “They are ranked 25th for a reason. They played us very tough but we responded with a great effort on defense tonight. The key tonight was limiting their 2003-2004 NAIA All-American Demontae Foots opportunities with ball. Our press limited their offensive opportunities, and the two guys we look to score, Derrick Rogers and Fredericko Payne did.”
LSUS, now 6-2, must look forward to tomorrow nights game against Bethel College. A win tomorrow night would put the Pilots at 5-2 on the road this year and will put them in a position to improve upon their preseason ranking of 35th in the Nation. “We feel like we have taken care of business so far this year. We have come back from 17 points down to win, we have blown leads and won, and we have played 6 of our first 8 games on the road. As long as we worry about ourselves, the rankings will take care of themselves” concluded McDowell.
The NAIA National Rankings will be released for the first time this season Monday, December 6. Tip-off tomorrow night versus Bethel College is scheduled for 6:00pm.
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