by Malcolm Butler
Jake Doan scored 34 points and Connor Johnson added 20 as Cedar Creek built a double digit lead and held on for a 72-61 win over Calvin Monday night at the Brickhouse.
Creek (6-4) led 20-8 after the first quarter of play as Doan hit four three-pointers and scored 14 points in the opening eight minutes.
The Cougars extended the advantage to 34-21 at halftime as Johnson scored six points in the second quarter while Brett Bell connected on one of his two three-pointers in the game.
“It was quite a game,” said Cougars head coach Lance Waldron. “We got off to hot start really shooting the ball well. We were hot in the first half. Then in the second half we came out and we kind of shot ourselves out of the game. We had a big lead and should have been attacking the rim but instead took some bad shots.”
The third quarter saw the Cougars get outscored 20-17 as Calvin (7-8) closed the deficit down to 51-41. Jack Bell scored eight of his 10 points in the frame while Johnson added five and Doan four.
In a game full of offense, one of the biggest defensive plays came in the fourth quarter when Luke Waldron drew a charge on Calvin’s leading scorer in Chris Bevill, fouling Bevill out with 25 points.
“Luke took a charge on their best player and fouled him out,” said Waldron. “It changed the momentum of the game and we were able to stretch the lead out from there.”
Doan scored 13 points in the fourth quarter for Creek, hitting nine of 17 free throws in the frame. For the game, Creek hit 21-of-38 free throws (only 12-of-25 in the 4th quarter) while making nine three-pointers.
“We had a good scoring night,” said Waldron. “They are tough to stop. They pound it inside and draw fouls. It was a long game, but it was a good game and a good win.”
