Men Fall to Hot Shooting Kankakee Community College
The Red Hawks had their home opener against a strong Kankakee Community College on Saturday, November 23, 2019 and fell 95-83.
In a battle of two strong offenses, the Kankakee Community College Cavaliers were able to stay hot longer than the Red Hawks to come away with a victory. The first half saw two teams that rarely missed. In the second half, the Red Hawks cooled from three point range, which was enough for the Cavaliers to hold on to their lead to a 95-83 win.
Early in the first half, the Red Hawks hot three point shooting quickly put them up 6-3, but the Cavaliers stormed back as they created shots for each other and jumped out to a 24-11 lead. The Red Hawks' reserves helped narrow the margin though as Jordan Marble connected on three of his four three-pointers in the first half. Lake Michigan narrowed the lead down to three points late before the Cavaliers extended it back out to head to the half-time break up 47-41. The Red Hawks shot 52.4% from three point range which provided 33 of their 41 points in the first half.
The strong shooting from the three point range in the first half wasn't repeated for the Red Hawks in the second half. Lake Michigan did find more scoring inside though. As a team they connected on 57.1% from two point range, as their three-point percentage dropped to just 22.2%. Jaden Croom and Andrew McGuirt were major factors in adding to the inside scoring as they connected on four and five shots inside respectively. Coach Schaeffer remarked, "We needed to find more balance early in the game. We became reliant on our ability to make three's and it came back to hurt us in the second half. It was a learning experience for us and as we continue we have to focus more on scoring in the inside."
Kankakee finished shooting 50% from three-point range and 57.1% from two point range on the day.
Devan Nichols led the Red Hawks with 24 points, five assists, and five rebounds. McGuirt added 18 points, 3 rebounds, and 2 steals. Jordan Marble scored 12, 4 for 8, shooting from outside of the permiter. Jamon Walker added nine points and four assists as Jaguar Jackson contributed with seven assists.
The Red Hawks next game is Friday December, 6th as they travel to Milwaukee, WI to take on Milwaukee Area Technical College at 8:00 pm.