Ihnen, Bluejays hold on against Sisseton
Mar. 11—WORTHINGTON — Always exhibiting a flair for the dramatic, the Minnesota West men's basketball team nearly let slip a 17-point lead with 7:14 remaining in its game with Sisseton Wahpeton Wednesday night.
Fortunately for the Bluejays, however, they held on after the Mustangs pulled to within 81-80 with a minute to go at the Center for Health and Wellness in Worthington. The final score was 83-80.
The Bluejays, whose shooting let them down on Tuesday against the same Sisseton squad in an 84-75 loss, displayed much better offense in the rematch, and for the most part more than held their own on defense. After converting only one of eight 3-point field goals on Tuesday, the Jays made six of 13 on Wednesday.
Isaac Ihnen, a freshman guard from Round Lake, was key to the final result. Playing his best overall game of the season, Ihnen scored nine points in the first half and finished with 16, and he was 3-for-6 from beyond the arc. He made a few important defensive plays, too, including a steal with 2:40 remaining which led to a pair of free throws and a 77-70 West lead.
"That was definitely my best game of the year," Ihnen said after the game.
Did he feel his shot?
"I definitely did. Coach told me before the game, at least five of my shots had to be 3's if I shot eight."
The Bluejays have been spotty long-range shooters this year. So head coach Taylor Lupton has been preaching less threes and more twos by pushing the basketball into the lane.
"We had the right guys shooting the threes today," Lupton said. "That's something we've always stressed, having the right guys shooting the 3-point shot. ... (Inside) we've got guys who know how to create for themselves, and they know how to create for their teammates, too."
One of those creators is freshman forward Keitric Barber Jr., who is also a strong rebounder. Barber scored 14 points with seven rebounds on Wednesday. Teammate Ty'Shawn Bryant also enjoyed an impressive inside game with 12 points and 13 rebounds. Cornelius Wright with 11 points, Dallas Williams with nine, Nick Feit with eight and Elijah Williams with seven helped the Bluejays achieve good scoring balance.
D'Laino Paige led Sisseton Wahpeton with 24 points.
Ihnen said that he's finally starting to get used to the college pace, which is notably quicker than the high school variety. He credited the team's win to a nifty combination of solid offensive and defensive play.
"We had to play defense, because they shot the lights out last night, and we didn't get our hands up. And we had to hit a lot more of our shots," Ihnen explained.
Lupton said the inability of the Bluejays to coast to victory after their big second half lead could be chalked up to the fact that they haven't had a lot of leads to protect. Before Wednesday, they'd lost five of their last six.
"We haven't really been in that situation a lot this year. So it's a good learning experience," he said.
Sisseton Wahpeton 31 80
Minnesota West 45 83
SISSETON WAHPETON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) — Shellman 0-6-3-15, Spears 0-2-1-5, German III 2-1-0-8, Paige 1-6-9-24, Hundley 2-6-0-18, Edwards 1-1-3-8, Nance 0-1-0-2. Totals 6-23-16-80.
MINNESOTA WEST (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) — Ligon 0-1-2-4, Feit 1-2-1-8, Bryant 0-5-2-12, Ihnen 3-2-3-16, Barber Jr. 0-7-0-14, D.Williams 1-3-0-9, Stoudemire 0-0-2-2, Wright 1-2-4-11, Durham 0-0-0-0, D.Williams 0-3-1-7. Totals 6-25-15-83.
