The Baker University men’s basketball team got off to a fast start and never looked back en route to a 62-48 victory over the Graceland University Yellowjackets.
Going up against a 5-17 team, head coach Sean Dooley was worried that this could be a trap game.
“I was kind of concerned with this game,” Dooley said. “With what we’ve got ahead of us on Saturday, it’s easy for a lot of teams to look ahead.”
Graceland held the lead for 17 seconds in the first half, but the rest of the game was all Baker, which took a 34-23 lead into halftime. The gap increased to as much as 18 points in the second half before walking away with a 14-point victory.
Senior Kevin Lysaught led the team in scoring with a season-high 15 points, including 5-7 shooting from the field and 4-5 from the free throw line.
“It’s good to finally see the ball go in the net,” Lysaught said. “Usually, I’m the guy doing the dirty work.”
Lysaught also recieved praise from his teammate, senior Corey Anderson, who had 10 points himself.<br/>
“Kevin had a big game,” Anderson said. “He did great on the offensive boards, and he just knocked down shots. We’ve got to have people step up every night, and tonight it was Kevin.”
Lysaught stuck to doing the dirty work as well, grabbing two offensive rebounds and coming up with a steal in 21 minutes off the bench.
“He got two, but it seemed like it was five or six,” said Dooley. “But he kept balls alive. I thought him and Baba (Diallo) both were awesome on the offensive boards.”<br/>
Diallo was not credited with an offensive rebound, but he, like Lysaught, kept the ball alive off of misses. He was also aggressive with the ball, getting to the line eight times in the game.
Ben Steinlage had another efficient game, scoring 14 points on 6-10 shooting, including 2-3 from 3-point range.
Baker’s defense also limited the Yellowjackets to 18-54 shooting, 4-20 on 3-point attempts.
Samer Jassar was their defensive anchor, leading the team in rebounds with six, and adding two blocks.
“This is two games in a row where I thought they came out ready to play,” Dooley said.
The Wildcats face a tough task on Saturday, facing an Evangel University team that in their last meeting came away with a 80-39 win, Baker’s worst loss of the season. Anderson believes the team is ready to be tested as it is on a four-game winning streak.
“We have a lot of confidence coming in, but they’re still at the top of the conference,” Anderson said. “So it’s going to be a long battle; it’s going to be tough.”
The Wildcats have tightened up defensively since facing the Crusaders in the first week of December as they have held their opponents to 60 points or less in five of their last six contests.
“We’re going to be excited for it,” Dooley said. “We’re going to play well, and hopefully we can make one more shot than them.”