Men's Basketball's Huge Second Half Helps Earn Second Win in a Row

(Adrian, MI)-- The Cleary Cougar men's basketball team struggled to get the offense going in the first half, but would dominate the second half en route to a 59-53 victory at Siena Heights Wednesday evening.

Siena Heights opened with the game's first points, but Jacob Mueller made a jumper, and Jaylen Cole-Williams hit a three to give the Cougars the early 5-2 lead.  Siena Heights would come back and take the lead, while playing stifling defense, to build a 17-9 lead with eight minutes to play in the opening half.  The two teams would trade baskets, with the Cougars getting as close as 21-16, but the Saints would finish the half on a 10-6 run over the final 2:30 to go into halftime with a 31-22 lead over Cleary.

Siena Heights would knock down a pair of free throws to open the second half, building an eleven point advantage, the largest lead for either team in the game.  After trading baskets again for the next five minutes, the Cougars would still find themselves trailing 38-29, but Bennie Crenshaw Jr. started the second half rally with a three to cut the deficit to six points.  A Chris Williams three pointer made it a one-possession game, and after a pair of free throws from Jacob Mueller, and a layup from Tim Kewley, the Cougars were be in the lead.  Another Tim Kewley layup would extend the lead to three points, and the lead would be at six points just one minute later when AJ Hess knocked down a three.  Hess would come up big again with 7:24 to play, when he converted another three to give Cleary a 49-41 lead.  The tempo would slow down, and Siena Heights would try to make their final push, but the Cougars' defense would be up to the task, getting crucial stops down the stretch to hold on for the win.

Jacob Mueller had a game high 16 points to go with 5 rebounds, and 2 assists.  Tim Kewley added 11 points and 5 rebounds off the bench.  Bennie Crenshaw had 7 points, 5 rebounds, 5 assists, and 2 steals.  Cleary outscored the Saints 37-22 in the second half.

The win was the first time in program history that the Cougars had won back to back games, and now gives Cleary a 5-12 record overall, 4-7 within the WHAC.  Cleary will be back in action on Saturday, January 25, when they are on the road to take on the UNOH Racers for a 3:00 PM WHAC matchup.