ROME, Ga. – After splitting the GSC/SIAC Challenge this past weekend, Shorter eyes a cross divisional matchup with an undefeated LaGrange team who's already dabbled with higher level competition this year.
Shorter's Friday night loss to a very compatible Lane College team didn't seem to bother the Hawks much who turned right around and thumped Tuskegee, 91-62, Saturday afternoon. The Hawks never trailed to the Golden Tigers and led by as many as 32 in the second half. The Juco transfer, Gary Clay Jr., was as advertised, totaling 24 points on 5-of-8 shooting (3-of-3 from deep). Clay comes to Shorter from Wabash Valley College where he averaged 14.9/4.6/2.7 and shot an impressive 49.8% from the field. All told, the Hawks connected on 15-of-22 (68.2%) from distance and capitalized on 32-of-36 (88.9%) chances at the line. Both are figures that Wade Anderson will take twice on Sunday.
LaGrange is an interesting opponent that will undoubtedly test Shorter if they're not careful. The Panthers got a taste of a Division I program back on October 30th in an exhibition game against Alabama State. They've sunk their teeth into three straight out-of-conference teams to begin the regular season: Birmingham-Southern, Millsaps, and Centenary. The Majors just so happened to catch LaGrange on a good shooting night and the Panthers put 100 on them. Through three games they've relied on guard play. Seniors Cam Lyons and Gabe Cofield are each averaging over 11.0 PPG across their first three contests, and it looks like that will be their starting back court Wednesday night.
Height favors the Hawks.
The only big man on LaGrange's roster seeing any real minutes so far this season is the 6'6" junior, Kyle Smith. This bodes well for Shorter who's tallied the fewest rebounds (46) of any team in the GSC through two games. Could you point the finger at Shorter shooting exceptionally well (52.3%) to start the season? Maybe. But Micah Hodges (6'8") and Krei Kyncy (6'9") should have better luck on the glass Wednesday night.
Hawks defense should create separation.
A seven-minute first-half scoring drought put Tuskegee behind 19-4 with a little over eight minutes left before the intermission. The Golden Tigers shot 7-of-27 (25.9%) from the floor in the first half, and if it wasn't for their 17 made free throws in the second half, they could have easily been held under 50 total points for the game. LaGrange will need to step off the bus ready to shoot and pray they don't have to endure a run like the one in the Tuskegee game.
Keep the fouls under control.
Chintzy fouls plagued the second half of Saturday's contest. There were 52 of them in total. Both Ian Reith and Krei Kyncy fouled out, Kyncy in just 15 minutes. I don't expect to see anywhere near that number come Wednesday considering this is just an exhibition game. Regardless of opponent, this defense has looked too good in the first two games to be bailing out offenses with trips to the line.
The Panthers and Hawks tip at 7:30pm EDT Wednesday night. FloHoops is the destination for Gulf South Conference Basketball, you can tune in and follow along there.
