The first week of the 2018-2019 Saint Xavier Cougars men’s basketball season has wrapped up and it has yielded some mixed results.
The Cougars played twice this week, once against Indiana University Northwest and once against Lincoln College. The Cougars kicked off the season on October 24th, playing the Indiana University Northwest RedHawks at the Shannon Center.
The Cougars looked to open the season with a victory, but faced a tough RedHawk squad. It did not start off well for the Cougars, as the RedHawks outscored the Cougars 11-1 in the first five minutes.
SXU stormed back and went on a 10 point run, but IU Northwest was able to pull away and finish the first half with a 39-30 lead.
The RedHawks continued their run of dominance for the first few minutes of the second half, but SXU was able to come back and tie the game with 12 minutes left.
Both teams traded the lead until IU Northwest tied the game with 26 seconds to spare. SXU could not score and the game was sent to overtime.
In overtime, SXU kept it competitive for the first two minutes, but the RedHawks pulled away and won the game 99-88.
SXU then travelled to Lincoln, Illinois to play the Lincoln Lynx. The Cougars started off hot, jumping out to an 18-5 lead in the first seven minutes.
The Lynx tried coming back, but were unsuccessful before the first half ended.
SXU kicked off the second half with a 37-32 lead, but Lincoln made a comeback and tied the game at 54-54 with 11 minutes left. Both teams traded the lead back and forth for a while, with the game tied 67-67 with five minutes left. After the five minute mark, the Cougars failed to get any offense going and Lincoln jumped out to a 78-71 lead.
The Cougars tried to make a comeback, but it was unsuccessful and the Cougars lost 73-82. After two games, the Cougars are 0-2.
Guard Tyler Diehl leads the team with 17 points per game so far, with guard Mike Shepski close behind with 14 points per game. Guard/forward Jack Brody leads the team with nine rebounds per game, which included an 11 rebound game against Indiana University Northwest.
Shepski is close behind with six rebounds per game. SXU has scored an average of 80 points per game so far, while allowing 90 points per game.
The Cougars play one time next week, on November 3rd against Huntington University in Huntington, Indiana.
Despite a 0-2 start, the Cougars still have a great chance to turn things around and get off to a decent start.
Doing so starts on Saturday when they play Huntington.
Chris Leonchik
Sports Editor