Another day, another win for the Eastern Kentucky Colonels. EKU won it’s third straight home game to improve their record to 3-1 by defeating the South Carolina State Bulldogs 98-92. Both teams were victorious Friday in the first day of a three day span of games in the EKU Hoops Classic.
Eastern Kentucky coach Dan McHale went with a fresh new starting five today, and while it proved to be quite successful, it was again points off the bench that gave EKU the extra boost they needed to get the win. There was no slow start for EKU tonight as they quickly jumped out to a 12-5 lead behind a balanced offensive attack. It was apparent very early in the game that Eastern Kentucky was feeling it from deep today, as they knocked down shot after shot from beyond the three point line.
Another focal point of EKU’s offense early in the game was freshman standout Nick Mayo, who racked up 12 first half points as a result of a flurry of impressive post moves and smooth shooting. Although EKU was playing well offensively, they struggled mightily at the free throw line in the first half, shooting an embarrassing 45% from the charity stripe. Free throws aside, the Colonels seemed to be unstoppable when shooting the ball, knocking down a mind-boggling 8 three point attempts, accounting for nearly half of their first half points.
As the second half got underway, EKU seemed to lose their spark from the three point line and oddly enough find it at the free throw line. The Colonels racked up 20 points from the free throw line, drastically improving in the second half on near-perfect 20/22 shooting.
The Nick Mayo Show continued throughout the second half, and the freshman displayed his offensive dominance and finished with a career-high 20 points on efficient 9/11 shooting from the field. Javontae Hawkins, as usual, had a big game today as well, adding 19 points for the Colonels and grabbing 5 rebounds.
EKU has struggled in previous games in the rebounding category, and coach Dan McHale stressed in post-game interviews last night that he wanted the Colonels to focus on improving on the boards. They seemed to have heard the message loud and clear considering they owned the boards today and grabbed 10 more rebounds than S.C. State, finishing with 38 total rebounds. One key component in improving on the glass was forward Jarelle Reischel, who grabbed 7 rebounds to go along with his 18 points that was the result of an impressive performance from the free throw line (11/14 from the charity stripe).
All around, EKU looked very solid today and had no issue handling S.C. State. There were no glaring weaknesses from EKU and several strengths, which should build their confidence going into tomorrow’s game against Longwood. Colonel Up!
Standout Performances
-Nick Mayo: 20 pts, 5 reb, 1 ast
-Javontae Hawkins: 19 pts, 5 reb, 5 ast
-Jarelle Reischel: 18 pts, 7 reb, 1 ast
FINAL: 92-82 Eastern Kentucky
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