Patriots’ three parade knocks off Eagles

With the fourth place spot in the American Southwest Conference East Division still up for grabs, the margin for error was down to a minimum as the University’s men’s basketball team took on the University of the Ozarks on Saturday. The Patriots kept their head above water by demolishing the Eagles 94-66 at the Herrington Patriot Center.

Josh Twine, 23, charges the rim during the game against the Ozarks. The Patriots kept their playoff hopes alive winning 94-66. Photo by Jessica Sibbing.

Both teams started off slow, but started shooting fireworks after the initial five minutes. The Patriot’s defense forced the Eagles to take their shots from outside the paint. Ozarks answered the challenge, taking a 12-10 lead on 3-point shots.

Neal Welch, Dexter McMarion and Kevin Murray kept the Patriots afloat enough for them to tie the game up with 6:17 left in the half. Four minutes later, the Patriots regained lead and never looked back, as their transition game confused the Eagles.

McMarion caught fire and scored the final five points of the half to lead the Patriots 40-33 into the locker room.

Ozarks made things interesting in the first minutes of the second half. The Eagles forced the Patriots to commit key turnovers and tied the game. The Ozark players, however, were outmatched in the rest of the game.

The Patriots stiffened up on the defensive end, and let loose a barrage of shots that overwhelmed the Eagles. Welch and Michael Johnson turned the game against the Ozark into their own 3-point shootout competition, and would shoot lights out from the beyond the arch.

Jonathan Joyner, 43, goes up for a layup against opposing player from the University of The Ozarks during Saturday’s game. The Patriots defeated the Eagles 94-66 at the Herrington Patriot Center. Photo by Jessica Sibbing.

Welch shot 5-8 for the game, while Johnson shot an astounding 6-7 from three after missing one early in the first half. With the team setting up an impenetrable defense, and the rest of the team picking up on Welch’s and Johnson’s shooting entourage, the Eagles had no chance to make the game respectable.

“What can you say other than those guys give us a huge lift when they can shoot like that,” Patriots’ head coach Kenny Bizot said. “[They] never forced a shot and always got good looks from the rest of the team spotting them up.”

The team broke both season and school records for most 3-pointers in a game with 17. McMarion led all scorers with 23 points, shooting 9-12 from the floor.

Johnson, Welch and Hakeem Kareem joined McMarion with 20, 15 and 13 points respectively. The Patriots shot 56.5 percent for the game, 58.6 percent from behind the arc. Blake Mitchem led the Eagles with 22 points and five rebounds, shooting 7-10.

“Our number one priority is still our defense, with our transition game being a close second,” Bizot said.

“You can’t expect us to shoot like that every game,” Bizot said. The Patriots get some breathing room in the division after Louisiana College dealt LeTourneau a loss on Saturday.

They will play their final two regular season games at home, beginning with Louisiana College at 7: 30 p.m. on Thursday night, and Mississippi College at 3 p.m. on Saturday at the Herrington Patriot Center.