Free throws. Key word: free. The clock is stopped, nobody is trying to block the shot, and the only thing distracting you would maybe be the away team’s crowd. My point is: free throws are a simple part of the game. You can come back from any deficit. After all, the free throw line is also known as “the charity stripe.” On the other hand, you can lose any game thanks to free throws. For a part of this season, free throws have cost the men’s basketball team games here and there. If only the men could’ve knocked down the free tosses, their already “best record in IPFW history” would be even better.
Saturday evening, the men’s team showed that free throws were not going to cost them a game anymore. IPFW made 80 percent of their free throws. Unfortunately, finally finding rhythm at the line wasn’t enough Saturday night at Oakland, where coincidently, the Golden Grizzlies missed nearly half of their free throw attempts, shooting 61 percent, but still bouncing the ‘Dons 86-83. Oakland has the best Summit League record this season, (17-1) but if the ball just would’ve bounced the way of the ‘Dons just one more time, Oakland would have a record of 16-2.
IPFW trailed by ten points at the halftime break and came out with fire in the second half. Trey McCorkle continued his terrific play, tossing in a career high 25 points, and the other big man, Deilvez Yearby chipped in 23 of his own, while pulling down ten rebounds for yet another double-double. Jeremy Mixon had another big game, scoring 18 points in just 18 minutes of play.
When it comes down to it, IPFW can play with anybody in the conference. With the conference tournament getting underway March 6 in South Dakota, IPFW has won four out of their final five games and seem to be playing their best basketball. Sunday, March 7 at 6 pm, IPFW will start the tournament run in what is already the best season for the ‘Dons since they went Division 1. So I say, why not win the thing and go dancing?
