SVC Bursts Into Win Column
BENNINGTON, Vt. - The Southern Vermont College Mountaineers proved in Tuesday night's basketball battle that no amount of long-range artillery can match a true band of brothers.
The SVC men employed a balanced attack to defeat visiting Union College, 85-76, and snap a four-game losing streak with their first victory of the season. The Mountaineers (1-4) put four players in double figures, led by Lance Spratling's 21 points and Deandre Kennedy-Ebron's 19 points and 10 rebounds.
"It feels really good to finally get over the hump," said SVC two-guard Brendan Kordana, who shook off his own early-season shooting woes to rack up 15 points. "Now we've got our first win, and hopefully we'll have many more."
That elusive victory came against a Dutchman squad bent on blasting its way to a win almost exclusively from three-point range. Union (2-2) canned five triples in each half, led by senior guard Steve Medej (15 points).
But SVC simply had too much balance both on the perimeter and in the paint, and the Dutchmen were forced to play from behind most of the contest until their offensive scheme finally dissolved into little more than desperation jacks.
"Most of the shots (the Dutchmen) took were pretty well contested," SVC head coach Mike McDonough said. "They have great shooters who are tough to defend, but we kept those great shooters from really going off and being a factor."
The Mountaineers fell into a 5-0 hole off the opening tip, but ripped off an 20-8 run over the next 5:43 thanks in large part to back-to-back threes by Kordana. The North Adams, Mass., native equaled his output on made triples for the entire season within a span of 30 seconds, saying afterward that the quality of his shots made a big difference.
"I got a lot of open looks tonight, and my shot felt good," Kordana said. "With (SVC's forwards) playing so strong inside, it really opens things up for me on the perimeter."
One of those forwards tearing up the paint was Joe Karnik (17 points). The junior took advantage of the Dutchmen's defensive focus on Kennedy-Ebron at the onset by knocking down three field goals and three free throws to give his team a 20-13 edge less than eight minutes into the game.
Once Union got wise and turned its attention to Karnik, Kennedy-Ebron caught fire via an inside deuce, a 14-foot jumper and another mid-range J off an assist from Cam Herrington that gave SVC its first double-digit lead at 26-16. McDonough laughed when asked how any opponent could hope to deal with the Mountaineers' two-headed paint monster of Kennedy-Ebron and Karnik.
"Who are you going to defend?" McDonough said. "Their balance was great, and they both do it so differently."
SVC also got some strong play in and around the lane from its Cambridge, N.Y., duo of Herrington and Ben Naaktgeboren (a combined eight points and six rebounds). The former put forth an especially solid performance, stepping outside to bury a jumper when the defense sagged off him and coming up with a vicious block on the other end to incite the raucous home crowd.
"Cam had a strong, physical game," McDonough said. "Two reasons were intrigued about him coming (to SVC) were that his inside presence and his ability to step away from the basket and shoot the ball - both played a factor tonight."
SVC carried a 43-36 edge into halftime, then came out strong with an 18-11 run over the first 6:46 of the second half. Kennedy-Ebron was again too much for the Dutchmen to handle, as he spun around a defender for two then put back his own miss 2:06 later to make it a 14-point game, 61-47.
The Mountaineers went into cruise control behind a pair of second-half threes from Spratling, who also racked up a game-high seven assists and three steals. The Dutchmen's long-range game plan finally paid off with just under five minutes remaining, when Joey Lokitis (13 points) and Drew Goldstein (15) buried back-to-back triples to make it 79-72, SVC. A Goldstein layup just over a minute later got the Dutchmen within five, but they would get no closer as Spratling knocked down a baseline J and added two free throws in the closing seconds to help seal the win.
"Lance is the guy who is best suited to take this team on his shoulders," McDonough said. "I think the whole team has confidence in him having the ball in his hands when the chips are down, and he's going to continue to have that role for us."
McDonough's crew will have little time to savor the flavor of victory No. 1, as a road game against Rensselaer looms on Thursday.
