2008 Woodie Awards
Men's basketball remains top in conference
Douglas McEneaney
Issue date: 1/25/08 Section: Sports
It was a good weekend for the men's basketball team. With two wins over Grinnell and Knox, Lawrence remains the top seed in the conference.
Friday brought one of the most anticipated games of the season for the Vikings. To those unfamiliar with the playing style of Grinnell, the Pioneers have a unique, fast-paced press defense with a dynamic three-point shooting offense. Games with Grinnell usually end up close to or above 100 points per team. Grinnell's success, therefore, is completely reliant on its shooting, which happened to not be there Friday.
The Vikings started the game scoring the first seven points and never looked back. Lawrence led the whole game from the opening basket 31 seconds into the game. Despite the Vikings shooting a below average 46.7 percent from the field in the first half, they cannot complain about the less-than-dismal shooting of the Pioneers. Grinnell shot 19 percent from the field in the first half, which includes the 8.7 percent from three point range (2-23), the strength of the Pioneer offense.
Just when things seemed to be at its worst for Grinnell, with seven minutes left in the half, the Vikings were given free points as the Grinnell coach was given a technical foul. The frustrated Grinnell team played how their coach acted for the remainder of the half.
As the first half concluded, the Vikings had not shot a single three-pointer but yet maintained a solid lead 45-28 and Grinnell had a lot of regrouping to do.
The beginning of the second half was much like the whole first half. The Vikings never let up. With 13.5 minutes left in the game, Grinnell basically waved the white flag. Lawrence continued to play with as much heart as if it were a tied game.
In the second half, Ryan Kroeger ('09) chased down a bouncing ball, clearly heading out of bounds, jumped several feet out of bounds, clutched the ball in his hand and flipped it back into play, clearing the out of bounds line by inches to a teammate.
Friday brought one of the most anticipated games of the season for the Vikings. To those unfamiliar with the playing style of Grinnell, the Pioneers have a unique, fast-paced press defense with a dynamic three-point shooting offense. Games with Grinnell usually end up close to or above 100 points per team. Grinnell's success, therefore, is completely reliant on its shooting, which happened to not be there Friday.
The Vikings started the game scoring the first seven points and never looked back. Lawrence led the whole game from the opening basket 31 seconds into the game. Despite the Vikings shooting a below average 46.7 percent from the field in the first half, they cannot complain about the less-than-dismal shooting of the Pioneers. Grinnell shot 19 percent from the field in the first half, which includes the 8.7 percent from three point range (2-23), the strength of the Pioneer offense.
Just when things seemed to be at its worst for Grinnell, with seven minutes left in the half, the Vikings were given free points as the Grinnell coach was given a technical foul. The frustrated Grinnell team played how their coach acted for the remainder of the half.
As the first half concluded, the Vikings had not shot a single three-pointer but yet maintained a solid lead 45-28 and Grinnell had a lot of regrouping to do.
The beginning of the second half was much like the whole first half. The Vikings never let up. With 13.5 minutes left in the game, Grinnell basically waved the white flag. Lawrence continued to play with as much heart as if it were a tied game.
In the second half, Ryan Kroeger ('09) chased down a bouncing ball, clearly heading out of bounds, jumped several feet out of bounds, clutched the ball in his hand and flipped it back into play, clearing the out of bounds line by inches to a teammate.
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