The Tribune

By BRENT STUBBS

Senior Sports Reporter

bstubbs@tribunemedia.net

The University of the Bahamas Mingoes gave the visiting Spring Arbor University Cougars all they could handle, but it wasn’t enough in the first of their two matches played on Monday at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium.

The Cougars, who surged from No.20 to No.16 in the second regular season edition of the NAIA Division II Men’s Basketball Coaches’ Top 25 poll last week, withstood the challenge to prevail with a 84-76 triumph.

SAU’s head coach Ryan Cottingham said it was good to get the first one under their belt.

“We were pleased with how we played,” he said. “UB is very good. They play hard, they are athletic, they are aggressive and they are very well coached. It was an honour to play. They never went away. We had our hands full, so we feel very good to get out here with a victory today.”

The Mingoes, coming off their final game for the year in the New Providence Basketball Association on Friday night, are 3-4 but head coach Bacchus Rolle said they should have won against the Cougars.

“Lil disappointed. We had some spurts there where we were just out of it mentally,” he said. “It was a winnable game, great adversary. We can play with them. We could get a win. We just had some miscues and some of the players just didn’t come to play mentally.”

Senior Zach Medendorp, shooting 12-for-16 from the field and 2-for-4 from behind the three-point arch, canned 26 points with four rebounds to lead SAU. Sophomore Paul Marandet was the only other player in double figures with 16 points on 7-of-8 from the field and 2-for-2 from the free throw line.

Both Jeff Beckman (with 10 rebounds) and Drew Zuidema had eight points and Ben Geschke (six rebounds), Tommy Hamilton and Brandon Durnell (six rebounds) all chipped in with seven points.

Playing 38 minutes and 24 seconds, sophomore Kemsy Sylvestre connected on 14-of-26 from the field and 5-for-10 from the charity stripe for a game high 33 points to lead the Mingoes. He also had nine rebounds, four assists, two steals and a block shot.

Ramon Dames contributed 14 points, five rebounds and four assists and Justin Smith came up with 10 points, four rebounds, four steals and two assists. Their next best scorer was Brian Jennings with five points.

The Cougars roared to a 31-24 lead at the end of the first quarter and held on for a 46-38 advantage at the half. At the end of the third, the Mingoes trailed 66-56 and even though they managed to cut the deficit to single digits, they were never able to take the lead. Game two of the series will be played today at noon back at the Kendal Isaacs Gymnasium and both teams are looking to make some adjustments.

“It’s going to be a challenge for sure,” Cottingham projected. “We have a lot of respect. We have to take care of the basketball. They just present some match-up problems. They are athletic.

“They have the two guys who shoot it so well No. 11 and 10 (Dames and Smith respectively) and 23 is so athletic. He’s long and they just get a lot of good parts in there. Very good team, very nice.”

Rolle said his Mingoes would definitely be ready today.

“We’re definitely gonna try to neutralize the bigs as best we can to do a lot of fronts,” he said. “We caught behind them a lot today. We just have to neutralize the size and know where the shooters are on the court.

“I think defensively we didn’t play the gaps well. We wasn’t up the line or on the line where we should have been in defensive position on the man to man. We were sagging a bit because of the side open three-pointers or a side rush to help, quick pass, then open three-pointer, especially in the second half.”

Every time UM made a dent into the lead, SAU was able to either pack the ball inside to maneuver strong to the basket, or they worked the ball around and converted the three-point a shot from the outside.

The Cougars limited the Mingoes to taking the ball inside for most of the game and they were able to utilize their size to control the boards with a 41-36 advantage.

Both teams were almost even from the three-point line with SAU hitting 8-of-30, while UB was 7-of-30. And despite losing the game, the Mingoes had just 15 turnovers, compared to 17 by the Cougars.

Cottingham, who was here before, said it’s good to be back in the Bahamas.

“It’s been an incredible trip. We love it. We hope to come back again sometime in the next few years,” he summed up. “But it’s been awesome, just a honor and a privilege for us.”