Lima, OH – Saturday the Barons held off a hot shooting University of Akron
Wayne team with a 103 to 89 victory.
The Barons jumped out to an early lead of 18
to 9 and never allowed UAW to get within 5 points of the lead from that point
on. However, the game was still full of runs by both teams. Three times the
Barons were able to build a lead of 12 or more points only to see UAW answer
with a small run of their own to close the gap back to five or six every time.
In the first half the Barons were able to
build their lead in large part due to the 23 first half points scored by Brent
Cook (Spencerville). The Barons went in to the half leading 56 to 44.
In the second half the game didn’t change
much with the Barons continuing to get open looks and take advantage of that,
but then seeing UAW come down and either knock down a deep three, or find a way
to penetrate and score. However, with just over seven minutes remaining the
Barons noticeably turned up the intensity on defense, and from that point on
only allowed another nine points for the duration of the game. In addition to
the increased intensity on defense, the Barons were able to put the game away
by knocking down several key free throws in the last minutes of the game.
While Cook was the leading scorer in the
first half, Jordan Swift (Shawnee) topped his effort by scoring 26 points in
the 2nd half to give him 34 for the game making him the Barons’
leading scorer for the game. Cook added 32 points, and Daniel Dray (Cory
Rawson) added 10 points.
The win raises the Barons’ record to 14 &
10 overall, 11 & 6 in the ORCC.
The Barons next game is Wednesday, February
6th as they will travel to take on OSU Mansfield, with the tip set for 6pm. The
Barons will then return home on Saturday, February 9th to host UC Clermont with
the tip set for 3pm following the Lady Barons contest that will start at 1pm.
Come out and support the Barons! Admission is free for all OSU and Rhodes State students.
