By Joshua Parrott, Sports Writer
For some people, 19 days can pass in the blink of an eye.
For others, including the members of the men’s basketball team, it can seem like an eternity.
After dealing with the lows of a five-game losing streak, the Wildcats aven-ged an earlier loss to Angelo State by defeating the Rams on the road, 73-70, for ACU’s first Lone Star Conference South Division victory this season. It was also its first win since a Jan. 9 road victory over Cameron University.
The Wildcats, now 10-8 overall and 1-3 in LSC South play, were led by a balanced attack with five players scoring in double figures. Junior forward Tucker Pierson led the team with 16 points and six rebounds, while back-up sophomore forward Calvin Nite scored eight of his 11 points in the second half for the victorious Wildcats. Before the Angelo State game, ACU had lost six consecutive LSC South road games dating back to last season.
ACU headed to Wichita Falls Thursday night to take on the Indians of Midwestern State, but results were unavailable at press time.
Coach Klint Pleasant said his team deserved the win over Angelo State.
“I think we’ve played pretty hard and performed well, but we hit key shots at key times,” Pleasant said. “I thought we did it the first time we played them (Jan. 13), but down the stretch (of that game) we didn’t hit the big shot. We just outplayed them tonight.”
Junior Rodney Lee, third in the LSC in scoring, added 12 points for the Wildcats, as did freshman guard A.J. Porterfield. Sophomore forward Jeff Johnson contributed 13 points despite getting in foul trouble early in the second half.
Lee said he has been doing his best to stay active and productive on the floor, even when he isn’t scoring or shooting the ball particularly well.
“Coach told me to just keep moving in our motion offense,” Lee said. “Also, when my shot isn’t falling, I just try to focus a little more on my defense.”
The Wildcats now look forward to division Texas A&M-Commerce, who is second in the LSC in scoring offense at nearly 83 points per game. The Lions are led by senior forward Micah Reed, who ranks fifth in conference scoring at 18.9 point per game.
Pleasant said he challenged his team to take some pride in their program during the five-game losing streak.
“Tucker (Pierson) said it best when he said that just one game has to go our way,” Pleasant said.
Angelo State just so happened to be that game.
