FORT WAYNE, Ind. - Centenary guard Maxx Nakwaasah tossed in 18 points and had 10 rebounds to lead Centenary to an 80-78 win over IPFW on Saturday afternoon at the Memorial Coliseum.
Centenary (8-16, 3-10 SL) shot 60.4% from the floor in downing the Mastodons for the second time this season.
The Gents led by eight at the half, and never let the 'Dons back in front the rest of the way.
IPFW was able to tie the game at 58 on a 3-pointer by junior guard Ben Botts with 7:35 left and had a chance to tied with just seconds left to force overtime.
With five seconds remaining and trailing by three, junior guard Zach Plackemeier hit the front end of a pair of free-throws. Plackemeier missed the second on purpose. The rebound came down to senior guard Nick Daniels, but his 10 footer from the baseline grazed the side of the backboard giving the Gents the win.
"We are really good against dribble-motion offenses but we're not good against teams that run true continuity, old-school offenses (like Centenary), IPFW head coach Dane Fife said." "We just couldn't stops, and give Centenary a lot of credit, they made big shots down the stretch and we just could not get the lead."
Joining Nakwaasah in double figures were Daman Starring with 14 and David Perez and Jeron Trotman with 13 each.
IPFW was led in scoring by Plackemeier and freshman guard Brandon Gaines each with 15. For Gaines it was a career-high. Botts finished the afternoon with 13.
The Mastodons, who shot 48.1% from the floor, were outrebounded by Centenary, 29-27. Each team knocked down nine triples in the contest.
With the loss, IPFW second straight after a three-game winning streak, the Mastodons sit at 11-12 and 6-7 in conference play. The 'Dons head back to the road to face UMKC on Thursday night and Southern Utah next Saturday.
IPFW has won three of its last four road conference games.
Mastodon Women pick up 68-28 win over Centenary
On IPFW’s third annual Pink Out, the Mastodon defense held Centenary to just nine first half points, and 28 points over the full 40 minutes, both IPFW Division I records for defense, as the Blue and White held the Ladies of Centenary to 21.7 percent shooting (10-of-46) in a 68-28 Summit League win.
The Pink Out portion of the game saw IPFW wear pink shoes, and both teams wear pink shooting shirts. Additionally, IPFW donated $1 for every ticket sold, and also held a silent auction, with all proceeds to benefit the Vera Bradley Foundation.
"I was really nervous about this game," said IPFW head coach Chris Paul. "Whenever you play a game that is a big promotional event, and you put on the pink shoes, sometimes the players come out with too much excitement. I was proud of the way we came out and executed early, got an early lead, and then kept that intensity. Even when we got a big lead, our kids continued to play hard, and I was proud of them for that."
Every Mastodon player in uniform scored in the lopsided win, as three IPFW players reached double figure points, led by a 14-point, 10-rebound double-double by Stephanie Rosado. Anne Boese scored a dozen points while pulling down a career-high eight rebounds, with Chelsey Jackson scoring 11 off of the bench.
IPFW forced 35 Centenary turnovers, including grabbing a season-high 16 steals, six by Sarah Haluska who added six points and four rebounds. IPFW also out-rebounded the Ladies 43-37, the 11th time this year the Mastodons have out-rebounded their opponent; however, the it was the first time since the last game against Centenary on January 11.
"We have to get back to doing the things that got us off to our fast start in league play," said the head coach. "We were winning early games because we were playing defense, and all of a sudden we go on our road trip, and we allow South Dakota State to shoot over 60 percent, and North Dakota State to shoot over 50 percent, and that’s not what was winning games for us. We took it as a challenge in this game to sit down and focus on our defense. After that first half our goal was to keep them in the 30’s, and we didn’t let up. Even when we went to the bench, I felt like our kids came out with intensity. I’m really proud that we held them to just 28 points."
The 28 points is the fewest allowed by IPFW in a game since the 1979-80 team held Summit Bible to 23 points in an 87-23 win. The total is tied for the sixth fewest in school history, with five of those six totals coming against Summit Bible, including a school-record-low 20, earlier in that same 1979-80 season.
IPFW jumped out quickly, when Courtney Reed received the tip, and found Rosado streaking to the basket three seconds into the contest. The Mastodon defense kept the Ladies off the board for the opening 6:21 of the game, jumping ahead 7-0 through that point. Centenary fought back to close the gap to just two when Jalena Sanders scored two of her team-high 10 points with 10:35 on the clock, taking the score to 7-5.
After the 10:35 mark, after the teams traded baskets, the IPFW defense kept
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