First Posted: 1/28/2015
LIMA — It was a record setting night for both the men and women basketball teams Wednesday night when they hosted the University of Michigan — Dearborn in Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference action.
The men achieved their first ever nine game winning streak, while the women saw senior Sammi Dervisevic (Shawnee) become the third member of the women’s 1,000 point club at UNOH.
The men rode a strong defensive effort to a 73-53 win that puts them at 18-5 (13-2 WHAC) and should help them maintain their number 17 ranking among National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics teams.
The Racers, still missing guard Ziar Anderson for a couple of more weeks, got a big night from Lawrence Jackson who totaled 24 points to lead the way for the UNOH men. Aaron Cross from Ada with 13 points and Ed Jenkins with 10 points also scored in double digits for the Racers.
But in the end it was a stellar effort by the UNOH defense that paved the way for the win. Starting out in their man to man the Racers mixed in some match-up zone and half-court traps that kept the Wolverines off balance the entire night.
“We mixed our defensive looks and our bench strength wore them down as injuries limited them to only eight players,” UNOH coach Chris Adams said. “Jackson has been on a roll the last two or three weeks and is a really talented player at our level and a tough match-up.”
Dearborn (7-15, 4-11 WHAC) only managed a 37 percent shooting night that included a dismal 3-of-13 (23 percent) on three-point shots.
UNOH, meanwhile, was scorching the nets for a 62 percent shooting night that came on a 30-of-48 effort from the floor. The Racers connected on 7-of-13 from behind the arc.
“We had a high offensive efficiency night tonight,” Adams said. “We executed well and ran the shot clock all the way down on our possessions at the end.”
The Racers had 14 different players see action in the game and nine of them scored. UNOH also protected the ball as they committed only 13 turnovers in the contest.
UNOH women 78 Dearborn 63
Sammie Dervisevic needed only six points to join the 1,000 point club and it didn’t take her long to get there. Dervisevic hit a three-pointer only 30 seconds into the game and connected on another trey at the 16:27 mark to become the third member of the women’s 1,000 club.
“I was nervous about it since I didn’t get it in high school,” the Shawnee graduate said. “It was nice that coach Jeff Heistan and the Shawnee girls varsity were here. We are getting into a rhythm shooting and also playing defense.”
Still to be done was the matter of a win for UNOH team and they achieved that by riding a big 24-point effort by Madison Coldren to a 78-63 victory. Natalie Billing (17 points), Dervisevic (14), and Lauren Hopfner (10) joined Coldren in the double digit scoring parade for the Racers.
The Racers (11-12, 9-6 WHAC) used a 12-0 run midway through the first half to grab a 28-12 over Dearborn (3-20, 1-14) lead and control of the game.
“We are healthier than we have been all year,” UNOH coach Kyle Menchofer said. “Turnovers are still a problem that we must work on but when we do what we are supposed to do we are playing very well.”
