Skip to navigation Skip to content Skip to footer
Photo credit: Jackson Harvey
Photo credit: Jackson Harvey
Posted: Dec 10, 2022

BIG RUN SETS TONE AS TIGERS ROLL PAST JAGUARS

Photos Box Score

BOURBONNAIS, Ill. – The Olivet Nazarene University men's basketball team set the tone early with a big run to open the game en route to a 104-62 victory over the Governors State Jaguars Saturday afternoon.

The Tigers wasted no time in taking control of the game, kicking things off with a 15-0 run. Tyler Schmidt opened the scoring with a second-chance layup before Caleb Swearingen dropped in seven-straight points. The Tigers would score three more layups before Governors State finally got on the board six minutes into the game.

After Governors State's first basket of the game, Schmidt and Landon Pflederer combined for nine-straight ONU points to go up 24-2. The Jaguars scored only their second basket of the game at the 11:16 mark in the first half. ONU held Governors State to just 1-of-11 shooting over the opening eight minutes of action. ONU would lead comfortably for there, cruising into halftime with a 21-point lead.

Governors State  (3-10, 3-4 CCAC) started to find their rhythm in the second half, connecting at a 50-percent clip and going 5-of-9 from deep. But the Tigers had the answer with an even better second-half shooting performance, connecting on 23-of-31 field goal attempts and hitting 8-of-10 three-pointers over the final 20 minutes of play.

After Caleb Corro connected on his third three-pointer of the night to put the Tigers up by 38, Head Coach Nick Birkey cleared the bench as the Tigers rolled to a 42-point victory, their largest win margin of the season.

Schmidt scored 15 of his game-high 23 points in the second half. Griffin Andricks and Corro filled in 16 and 15 points, respectively, off the bench. Swearingen also had 16. Pflederer was the fifth Tiger to finish in double-figures with 10. Ben Green scored his first career points with a three-pointer down the stretch.

The win keeps ONU perfect in conference play, moving to 6-0 in the CCAC thus far.

GAME VITALS

Final: Olivet Nazarene 104, Governors State 62

Records: Olivet Nazarene 9-2 (6-0 CCAC) | Governors State 3-10 (3-4 CCAC)

Location: McHie Arena | Olivet Nazarene University | Bourbonnais, Ill.

QUICK HITS

  • Tyler Schmidt led all scorers for the sixth time this season with 23 points.

  • Four other Tigers finished in double-figures: Griffin Andricks (16), Caleb Swearingen (16), Caleb Corro (15), and Landon Pflederer (10).

  • The Tigers held Governors State to one made field goal over the first eight minutes.

  • ONU shot better than 74-percent (23-of-31) from the floor and hit 8-of-10 threes in the second half.

WHAT'S NEXT?

The Tigers will hit the road to take on the Calumet Crimson Wave in Whiting, Ind. on Thursday, Dec. 15, 2022. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m. CST.

 

--ONU—

 

*Contact: Evan Wild, Sports Information Director, ewwild@olivet.edu