Thursday February 6, 1992 Lions take two on the Greg Gcibel/7'/ie Collegian Slammin' it in: Sophomore Rob Hunt hangs on to the rim after dunking the ball during a practice drill. Ladies B-Ball: Greg Gt /' -8‘ Up and in: Becky Swartz puts up a jumper and scores two more for the Lady Lions against Fredonia. Sports by Matt Cissne The Collegian A wise man once said that offense wins games but defense wins championships. An even wiser man said, "Heck, I'll take both." The Lions packed both their offense and defense and stuffed their bags with intensity during a recent stretch of three straight road games, of which they won two. "We came out tough and had a chance to win. The game showed that when we play to the best of our ability, we can compete with anybody." Last Thursday the Lions travelled to the unfriendly den of nationally ranked St. John Fisher. Bchrend played well, but they were overmatched. The Lions fell behind early and trailed 42-28 at the half. Behind Byron Thorne's 20 points and Rob Hunt's 12 points and seven rebounds, Bchrend tried to crawl back into the game, but they fell somewhat short, 75-62. The loss to St. John Fisher evened the Lions' record at 9-9. Check out the Lions’ remaining home games on Feb. 13 against Thiel and Feb. 17 against Dyke a national threat Paul Benim The Collegian The Lady Lions took a four hour bus ride down some wicked West Virginia hills and by the time they shook the curves and woke up they were down 37-32 at the break. This is only the third time Bchrend has been down at the intermission all year. Bethany College shot a solid 52 percent from the floor to maintain their five point halftime lead. However the amazing Lady Lions would not be denied their 16th win of the season. The Lions responded in the second half by forcing 10 Bison turnovers and only giving it up three times on their end. Within five minutes the Lions charged passed the Bison's. Sophomore guard Krista Hcrshncr gave Bchrend a boost in the second half hitting five jumpers for ten second half points. Consecutive 15 foolers by Hershner and Wendy Ebingcr increased the biggest lead in the second stanza to six. A 3-point play by Bethany cut the lead again to three, however that was On Saturday the Lions came back and pounced Bethany College 80-68. The Lions were paced by Don Plyler's 26 points and Stephan Resprcss added 17 points and 1 I rebounds. Rick Clark sunk 3 three-pointers and finished with 14 points. The Lions beat Bethany College with offense. On Monday, Bchrend won with lough defense by beating Thiel College 60-48. The Lions led 28-23 at the half. In the second half, Bchrend held Thiel to 28.6 percent shooting and stormed to victory. Clark and Plylcr led the way with 16 and 13 points respectively, while Thorne added 11 points and pulled down five rebounds. Thorne is pleased with the team's recent performance, "We played good defense and we were mentally prepared." "If we can continue to play well we can reach our goal of as close as the Bisons would get. Defensively the Lions picked it up and made Bethany turn the ball over, freshman Tracy Thompson contributed to a defensive run, the fastbreak concluded with a clutch Becky Swartz jumper that caught nothing but net. That possession was followed by a Karen Strait pulback and a foul. In the closing seconds Bchrend "The defensive intensity in the second half was the difference." -Jenepher Banker Head Coach held the advantage by three and the ball. A sideline stack set the stage for a Kimberly Boyd breakaway layup and a foul for a huge three point play. The Lions, up six again, had the lead cut by a 3-poinlcr with only :07 seconds remaining, but Bchrend executed four-corners to perfection to run the clock out and go on to a tough 65-62 road win. Head coach Jenepher Banker road gelling an EC AC playoff bid," he atkkxl. However, Thorne is still not satisfied with the season as a whole "We lost some close games that we should have won. We weren't aggressive and we came out flat," he mentioned. According to Thorne, the turning point of the season may have come against the Top-10 powerhouse Buffalo State. "We came out tough and had a -Byron Thorne Sophomore forward chance to win. The game showed that when we play to the best of our ability, we can compete with anybody." The Lions put their two game win streak on the line last night against Waynesburg College at Erie Hall. Sp. Kd. Note: The results of the Waynesburg game were not available at press time. commented on the teams sixteenth victory of the year. "The defensive intensity in the second half was the difference. In addition, we received clutch shots from a variety of people," she said. "The kids worked hard on the defensive end, and they simply got the job done in the second half," she continued. Bchrend, without the services of starling center Anne Bonner, got another balanced scoring attack. Missy Thompson gave a terrific performance, hitting four of eight shots and finished with 12 points and seven boards. Boyd hurried 11, and Hershner added five buckets and five rebounds. Ebinger and Swartz had eight points. Shearer and Strait swiped the glass for six rebounds each. The women's team improves to an awesome 16-2 record with the 65-62 victory over Bethany. Sp. Ed. Note: The Lady Lions played Mercyhurst College last night. The results were not available at press time. Page 7
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