Sterling College

By BOB DAVIDSON
Salina Journal
STERLING — The Kansas Conference's best defensive team also wasn't bad offensively Saturday night.

Sterling's defense, which entered the game allowing a KCAC-best 60.8 points per game, put the clamps on Kansas Wesleyan's offense and used its size advantage en route to a 69-55 victory Saturday night at the Gleason Center.

Sterling moves into a tie for second place with Wesleyan in the KCAC standings with a 11-5 records, two games back of league leader Ottawa, a 78-72
overtime winner over McPherson on Saturday. KWU falls to 13-12 overall with its second loss in three games. Sterling improves to 16-10.

Sterling held Wesleyan to 28.6 percent shooting for the game (16 of 56) and won the rebounding battle 40-31 thanks to the Warriors' two big men, 6-foot-10
center Jonathan Woods and 6-6 forward Cody Brazelton. Woods had 12 points and 11 rebounds, and Brazelton 10 points and 10 rebounds.

"Our big (guys) were huge tonight," Sterling coach Dean Jaderston said. "They started small against us,
and we'd have a hard time chasing their small (guys). If somebody goes small against us, we have to make them pay in the paint. We have to get the ball down
low, make their little guys guard our big guys, and hit the boards."I thought our two bigs really responded tonight. They played hard, played smart and played above the rim when we needed them to."

Wesleyan never could get over the hump after falling behind in the first half. The Coyotes trailed 31-28 at halftime and got within two, 46-44, with just less
than 8 minutes left, but no closer.
Trailing 54-50 with 5 minutes remaining, Sterling scored five straight points and led 59-50 with 2:25 left and Wesleyan never got closer than eight the rest
of the way.

"They're long, and they're big," KWU coach Mike Davert said. "They sloughed off of a couple of our players who aren't 3-point threats and clogged the middle, and that makes it hard to drive.
"They killed us on the boards. Numerous times we had them stopped, and they'd get an offensive board." Davert agreed that Sterling's defense played a key role."They wore us down offensively," he said. "Defensively, we weren't quite able to finish some possessions, and they hit some big shots."

Wesleyan was led by Trey Sims, who scored 16 points on 4-of-13 shooting. Eric Hammond added 13 on 3-of-10
shooting. Mike Henderson, the team's second-leading scorer, had five on 2 of 9 from the field.

"Our guys take a lot of pride in our defense," Jaderston said. "We're not an offensive power, and it's a mission for our guys. They're checking the scoreboard with 2 minutes go, 'Hey, we can hold another team under 60.' It's not about steals, it's about getting in guys' faces and contesting every shot
and then getting those boards."
Shane Stover led Sterling with 15 points — 10 in the final 4:45 of the game, including a 3-pointer that banked in with 2:25 left that made it 59-50 and effectively sealed the deal.
"I think the guys played hard," Davert said. "We didn't always play smart, and we didn't always play together. But we did play hard."

An 11-2 Sterling rally, fueled by Jamaal Mondaine, gave the Warriors a 29-20 lead with 4 minutes left before half. Mondaine scored all nine of his points in
a row after Woods started things with a basket inside 7:55 left in the half that snapped an 18-18 tie. The Coyotes scored just two points from the 9:18 mark
of the first half until 3:57 was left.
Wesleyan battled back, outscoring Sterling 11-2 the rest of the half and trailed 31-28 at halftime. Hammond led the charge with five points, including a
three-point play with 3.2 seconds before the break.

Sterling plays Tabor on Thursday in Hillsboro, starting with the women's game at 6 p.m., followed by the men at about 8.