The ACU men’s basketball team continued in their winning ways during the thanksgiving break, improving their record to 4-1 in the young season after a couple of wins against UT Permian Basin and a tough loss to a talented A&M International squad.
“Overall it went well.” Senior Ben Warton said. “The win over UTPB was a good win, to go into their place and hang on is a good win. Against international we just let our defense slip in the second half, but it is good to see that we were able to stay in the game even with a lapse in defense.”
The Wildcats started the UTPB classic by taking on the Permian Basin Falcons in their first road game of the season on November 18th and took care of business on the road, winning 65-60.
“It is very important to be able to win on the road.” Junior Armani Williams said. “It is a process, and I’m glad we are winning and staying together.”
The next night, ACU suffered their first loss of the season in heartbreaking fashion against the A&M international Dustdevils 71-69.
The Wildcats played an incredible first half of basketball against A&M International, scoring 44 points and shooting well over 50% from the floor.
Unfortunately, in the second half the Wildcats could not knock down many open looks, and the Dustdevils were able claw their way back into the game, and with 13 seconds left, the game was all knotted up, 69-69.
Then Dustdevil guard Armando Brito made a jump shot at the buzzer to oust the Wildcats hopes of winning two straight games away from Moody Coliseum, and handed ACU their first loss under head coach Joe Golding.
I think we should have won both of our games, but we ended up losing on a buzzer beater.” Williams said. “That game showed us that we have to finish games earlier and not get ourselves in those situations.”
Last Tuesday, while most of the ACU community was headed home to spend for a thanksgiving feast, the Wildcats were handing UT Permian Basin their second loss in five days, this time in Moody Coliseum 80-69.
“It’s always hard to beat a team two times in a row.” Warton said. “The two teams are pretty familiar with each other so it was a big step for us.”
The Wildcats torrent first half scoring continued in this game, as the Wildcats scored 45 first half points and looked to be in control of this game from the start.
Four Wildcats were in double figures in this game, including Erik Kibi, Kendall Durant, Zach Williams, and Antonio Bell with a game high 21 points. The balanced scoring of the Wildcats has caused problems for opposing defenses all year.
“We definitely have a lot of weapons.” Williams said. “We also have depth at every position, which will be a great advantage for us down the stretch.”
The Wildcats next home game is against Southwestern Adventist University this Saturday, December 3rd, at 7 p.m. in Moody Coliseum.
