Men’s basketball improves in 2006-2007  

By: Mallory Mulvihill
Contributing Writer

 The Fighting Scots men’s basketball team went into the winter break only having won nine games and had the rest of their season in question. The men had some trouble trying to keep a steady starting five having switched it up multiple times without a set group. After dropping the last game of the semester to Robert Morris College in Chicago by 40, the men were looking at a three week break before they played another game.

The three weeks off seemed to be detrimental to the men as the faced conference foe Illinois College on Jan. 6 in Glennie Gymnasium. The men’s first half started off slow, and went into the break down 16 points. The men had to fight an uphill battle for the rest of the game. With around 10 minutes left in the game, junior Blaise Rogers hit a three pointer to pull the Scots within six, but that was as close as they would get for the rest of the game. The Scots lost 84-71. Junior Joe Terwelp was virtually shut down shooting only 3-11 from the field in 33 minutes. Even though Terwelp struggled, he was picked up by his teammates. Senior Raun Singleton scored 27 points, including 6-8 from behind the arc, and Rogers shot 50% from the field, scoring 14 points.

As we all remember well last year, the men’s team dropped both conference games to cross-town rivals Knox. The Scots didn’t start the series for this season off well losing to the Prairie Fire on Jan. 9, 63-70. To make matters worse, the Scots were without Terwelp due to sickness. Again, Rogers and Singleton carried the team with 18 points each, but it wasn’t enough to knock of the Fire on their home floor. While Singleton had a stellar night from behind the arc just days before, he struggled against the Fire only hitting 2-11. Rogers kept his field goal percentage up near 50% shooting 6-13.

After dropping two tough conference games, the Scots came back the following weekend Jan. 12-13 to take down two conference opponents. On Friday, Jan. 12, the men beat Beloit 80-73. The men were still without Terwelp who was experiencing flu-like symptoms. The Scots saw four players in double figures, including Singleton (16), sophomore Corey Turner (15), Rogers (13), and junior Andy Moore (13). The Scots were virtually unstoppable from the field, shooting 50% for the game and an even higher 52% from three-point land.

The Scots then took on a tough Ripon team the following day, Jan. 13. beating them in a down-to-the-wire battle by one point: 80-79. The Ripon Redhawks came into Glennie unbeaten in the conference, before the Scots gave them their one loss. The men remained in control for most of the first half, going into the break up by two when junior Scott Scholten hit a three pointer at the buzzer. The Scots came out of the break with a fire and went up by 10 quickly. The Redhawks tied the game with 3:30 left in the game. The final minutes came down to free throws in which the Scots handled the pressure and senior Caleb Bennett sank two from the charity stripe with 35 seconds to go in the game. Much like the night before, the Scots had five players in double figures: Rogers (17), Singleton (13) and Moore, Bennett, and senior Josh Reschke (10). Bennett shot 8-9 from the line and Rogers went 7-7 along with 50% shooting from the field.

The first weekend back at school Jan. 19-20, the men traveled up to Wisconsin to take on St. Norbert and Beloit. On Jan. 19, the men suffered a tough loss to St. Norbert, 68-56. The men were lucky enough to get Terwelp back but were not lucky enough to get any charity calls from the hometown referees. Norbert kept their turnovers down and broke down the Scots’ zone defense and out rebounded the Scots by nearly 10. Rogers (11) and Singleton (15) led the Scots in scoring.

After beating Beloit a week prior at home, the Scots didn’t have the same fate on Beloit’s home floor on Jan. 20 losing 74-67. The game remained close for the first half and the Scots entered the break up by 3, but the Bucs came storming back in the second half and went up by 15 before the Scots made a basket. The Bucs shot 55% from behind the arc in the second half and picked apart the Scots’ 2-3 zone. Terwelp scored his first double digit game since being back with 20. Rogers again shot 50% from the field and scored 20 points. Singleton added 10.

After two disappointing losses, the Scots traveled to Lake Forest on Jan. 23. With both teams struggling in the conference, it was said to be a competitive and hard fought game. The Foresters and the Scots battled to the wire and the Scots pulled off a 55-53 victory. The men only allowed one player from the Foresters to score in double digits, and only turned the ball over eight times. Terwelp had another double-digit performance scoring 17 points. Singleton added 12 and Rogers added 10.

This win over Lake Forest puts the men’s conference record at 4-6 with six games left, five of which are at home. The men could potentially win the rest of their games and finish 10-6 with a chance at playoffs. The men face Grinnell at home on Jan. 30 at 5 p.m.