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.
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