Panthers fall on road at Miles

Nov. 17—Markel Aune and Jordan Roland scored 14 points apiece for the Kentucky Wesleyan College men's basketball team, but Miles College was too much to overcome as the Panthers fell 67-61 on Wednesday at the Knox-Windham Gymnasium in Fairfield, Alabama.

KWC (0-3) shot better than 57% from the field during the second half in an attempt to climb out of a 29-21 halftime deficit, but Panthers coach Drew Cooper pointed to early confidence that helped Miles (2-0) stay on top.

"It took us too long for people to settle in and start making some plays," he said afterward. "I thought we had some really good looks, and we looked a little sped up and a little uncomfortable until we got down — and it was like another gear of fright that got into our guys and we finally start making some shots."

Jomel Boyd's layup with 2:36 left in the first half pulled Wesleyan to within 21-19, but the Golden Bears used a 19-2 run into the second half to establish a 40-21 advantage with 14:32 remaining.

After trailing by double digits for most of the second half, a jumper from Aune and a pair of free throws by Boyd sparked a crucial 9-2 KWC run — with a 3-pointer by Kennedy Miles bringing the Panthers within 59-53 with 2:07 left.

However, Mykayle Carter hit a 3 for Miles with 1:28 left to extend his team's lead. Roland cut the deficit to five points on two occasions within the final minute, but the Golden Bears made 4-of-4 free throws to seal the victory.

"It was good to see Jordan Roland down the stretch, he finally started making some plays," Cooper said. "He has really struggled. Jordan is a second-team all-conference player, and he hasn't had the type of opening to this basketball season that we're going to need from him as the season goes along.

"It was good to see him settle in and make some plays down the stretch."

Rodney Battle scored a game-high 29 points to lead Miles, knocking down 12-of-21 shots from the field and 3-of-9 from 3-point range. Elijah Horton added 12 points for the Golden Bears, who made 39.3% of their shots from the floor, 8-of-27 from 3-point range (29.6%) and 11-of-16 at the foul line (68.8%) with 10 turnovers.

The Panthers made 44.4% of their attempts for the game, with a 6-of-24 mark from long range (25%) and 7-of-12 shooting from the free-throw line (58.3%) with 14 turnovers.

Miles finished with the edge in rebounding (37-34), points in the paint (30-14), points off turnovers (7-4) and second-chance scoring (9-3). KWC's bench held a 26-23 scoring edge over the Golden Bears' reserves.

"It's a very good team," Cooper said. "This is a very tough place to play. Miles does not normally lose games at home. This was a good test for us.

"This is going to help us. These situations, you don't get this playing an opponent that is not your caliber physically."

Though the Panthers have dropped their first three games of the season — all on the road — they'll return to the Sportscenter for their home opener Saturday against East-West as the team honors legendary and now-retired broadcaster Joel Utley.

"We're one of the few teams in the nation that chose to play the first three games away from home and really test ourselves," Cooper added. "To some extent, it's trial and error. Right now, we really got to figure out what's going on offensively and get the right lineups out there.

"We have a basketball team with a whole lot of potential, we just got to find the right guys and the right rotations and get them playing their best basketball and making the plays that they make when they're at their best, making the plays when they're at practice."

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN 21 40 — 61

MILES 29 38 — 67

Kentucky Wesleyan (61) — Aune 14, Roland 14, Boyd 8, Fernandez 7, Sisson 7, Miles 4, Thomas 4, Gray 3.

Miles)67) — Battle 29, Horton 12, Spencer 8, Carter 6, Vassell 6, Ballard 3, Trotter 3.

WOMEN KWC 91, ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 75

Cali Nolot scored a career-best 25 points to lead the Panthers to victory in Springfield, Illinois.

Tahlia Walton added 20 points for Wesleyan (2-1), which jumped out to a 23-6 lead in the first quarter and never looked back. The Panthers claimed a 50-28 edge at intermission and cruised to victory in the second half.

Shaylee McDonald also posted 10 points for KWC, as the Panthers shot 58.3% from the field, made 9-of-19 3-pointers (47.4%) and converted 12-of-17 foul shots (70.6%) with 15 turnovers.

Ariyah Douglas scored a game-high 28 points for Illinois Springfield (0-3), which made 48.2% shots from the floor, 13-of-30 from long range (43.3%) and 8-of-9 from the free-throw line (88.9%) with 17 turnovers. Ava Bardis and Trinity Bellard chipped in 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Wesleyan finished with the edge in paint scoring (48-20), points off turnovers (25-18), rebounding (27-26), second-chance scoring (15-5) and bench production (41-15).

KWC plays again Monday at Missouri-St. Louis.

KENTUCKY WESLEYAN 23 27 20 21 — 91

ILLINOIS SPRINGFIELD 6 22 13 34 — 75

Kentucky Wesleyan (91) — Nolot 25, Walton 20, McDonald 10, Hammelman 9, Hoosier 9, Edmonds 8, Montgomery 4, Barga 3, Conley 3.

Illinois Springfield (75) — Douglas 28, Bardic 13, Bellard 12, Zajicek 9, Murphy 7, Jenkins 3, Wachter 3.