Both the men’s and women’s basketball teams for Kentucky Wesleyan College suffered their first conference loss of the season Saturday on the road at Cedarville University.
The men weren’t able to hold on to a lead in the second half and fell 76-59, while the women’s four-game win streak ended with an 89-78 loss.
MEN
The Panthers (3-4, 2-1 G-MAC) did not score for nearly six minutes, but the defense limited the damage by only allowing four points. Tarik Dixon finally got a 3-point bucket to fall, and the score remained within two possessions either way for the duration of the first half.
The Yellow Jackets (5-4, 3-1 G-MAC) used some late free throws to take a 28-23 lead into locker room. Cedarville pushed their lead to eight before Wesleyan hit five 3-point buckets in a three-minute stretch, with three coming from Dixon.
Wesleyan polished off a 15-2 run with another long ball by Adam Goetz.
The Panthers established a 45-38 lead with 13 minutes left, but Wesleyan went scoreless for six and half minutes as the Yellow Jackets embarked on a 12-0 run to take a 50-45 lead.
The deficit was trimmed to 54-51 after Mohamed Abu Arisha hit from long range, but it was the closest the Panthers got over the final five minutes.
Dixon finished with a career-high 18 points, while Deng Mayot added 14 and Abu Arisha scored 11. Goetz pulled-in a career high 12 rebounds.
The Panthers will return home on Thursday to host Walsh University at 7:45 p.m.
WOMEN
A back-and-forth battle featured nine lead changes, with neither team gaining an advantage of more than six points until midway through the final quarter.
The Panthers (4-3, 2-1) controlled the first quarter, holding a 20-16 lead behind five points each from Jenna Martin and Keelie Lambframe.
Cali Nolot converted a layup with 9:15 left in the second to give Wesleyan their largest lead of the game at six points.
Lamb, Leah Richardson and Lily Grimes combined for seven points in the closing three minutes, but Cedarville (7-1, 4-0 G-MAC) took a 41-39 lead into the break.
Wesleyan regained a three-point lead after a layup from Nolot, but the Yellow Jackets went back in front 61-58 lead entering the final frame.
The Panthers trimmed Cedarville’s lead to three midway through the fourth before the Yellow Jackets pulled away with a 8-0 run.
Four Panthers reached double figures in scoring in Martin (16), Lamb (14), Ivers (13) and Kaylee Clifford (12). Ivers led the Panthers with six rebounds while Grimes dished out four assists.
The Panthers return home this week to host Walsh University on Thursday and Malone University on Saturday in a pair of G-MAC games.
