MOUNT VERNON – Mount Vernon Nazarene University men’s basketball came out of the gates unconscious from the floor against visiting Marian, building a 55-36 halftime lead and went on to a 91-68 Crossroads League win.
The Cougars hit 9 of their first 10 attempts from the floor, with center Jordi Mas and guard Joe Schmitz combining to score the team’s first 14 points in the fast-paced game. Marian held its own early and shot the ball well from the floor, but MVNU expanded its advantage with a 17-2 run that spanded the course of a little over three minutes to grab a sizable 48-27 lead.
When the whistle for the conclusion of the first 20 minutes was blown, the Cougars drained 8-of-10 3-pointers, 18-of-27 from the court (66.7 percent), and 11-of-11 from the charity stripe in a scintillating and rhythmic offensive display.
Schmitz made a huge impact as he got in the zone from the perimeter, and did not miss a shot on his way to a whopping 19 points at the break (5-of-5 overall, 4-of-4 from three, and 5-of-5 from the free-throw line).
Mas was efficient from the post and joined Schmitz in double-figures with 10 at the break.
Marian trimmed its deficit to as low as 74-60 with 9:17 to play, as the Crossroads League’s leading scorer Wes Stowers began to make some plays on both ends of the floor.
Coach Jared Ronai called a timeout to settle his guys down, and they responded in a huge way by rattling off 15 unanswered points to build its largest lead at 89-60 with 5:09 remaining, a run capped by eight consecutive points from Schmitz. That punch from MVNU proved to be the decisive one, as the Cougars went on to earn their fifth league win of the season.
The outcome was a far cry from the two teams’ previous matchup at Marian on Nov. 21, an 83-78 overtime win for the Knights in the Crossroads League opener.
Schmitz was not just productive with his scoring however, as he supplemented his game-high 27 points with nine rebounds and a team-high six assists. The senior sharpshooter went 8-of-11 overall, 5-of-6 from beyond the arc, and 6-of-6 from the free throw line. Three others joined him in double-figures with 15 from Mas, 10 from Brett Vipperman (who had a double-double with 10 rebounds), and 10 from freshman David Delahunty, which tied his career-high. Jevon Knox finished with nine points off the bench as well.
MVNU hit 30-of-53 attempts in the game (56.6 percent) and nailed 11-of- 16 from three-point territory (68.8 percent) with 17 assists to just seven for the Knights.
Not to be overlooked in the impressive offensive outing for MVNU was its defense. The Cougars held Marian to just 68 points. The Knights entered the day’s play atop the Crossroads League by averaging a little over 91 points per game.
“Really proud of our guys and their effort defensively tonight,” Ronai said. “To hold a team that is averaging 91 points coming in to 68 was a tall task that took laser-like focus on each possession. Marian is a terrific team and it took all 40 minutes to hold them off.
“Time to rest up and prepare for a very good Bethel team on Thursday.”
MVNU (13-7, 5-3 CL) moved into sole possession of fourth place in the Crossroads League with the win, and will next travel to face No. 11 Bethel (17-3, 6-2 CL) on Thursday, Jan. 18 at 6 p.m. The matchup was previously postponed due to weather from the weekend’s winter storm.
