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Phil Brahm | Staff Reporter
November 20, 2014; 9:00 a.m.
Playing the first home game of the 2014-15 season, the men’s basketball team overpowered Greenville College, in a 106-63 beating on Wednesday night.
Securing the lead just over five minutes into the game, the Lions remained on top for the duration of the contest as the offense wreaked havoc on the Panthers.
Scoring 16 points of turnovers and 11 second-chance points, the Lions dominated both ends of the court in the first half. Putting up 52 points before heading to the locker-room, the home team held a 24-point lead.
In the second half the lead continued to increase, but this time, the majority of the points came from the LU bench.
Head coach Brad Soderberg was very pleased with his substitute’s efforts, despite coming into the game with a comfortable lead.
“They didn’t just go out there and mop up minutes; they played good basketball,” Soderberg said. “That’s a sign of a good program and a program that is going in the right direction.”
By the end of the game the bench accounted for 47 of the Lions’ 106 points.
The game was highlighted by the play of four of the team’s D1 transfer students, as each recruit put on a show for their new fans. In the first LU home game of their careers, Cory Arentsen, Chance Creekmur, Nick Carlos and LJ McIntosh combined for 13 shots in the paint and seven three pointers, for a total of 43 points.
Last year’s leading scorer, Darris Smith posted strong numbers of his own against the Panthers. As the top scorer on the night, he had 15 points and had a field goal percentage of .63.
Wednesday’s win comes after starting the season with two game in the NCAA Division 2 Vegas Showdown, on Nov. 14-15.
“Today we focused on executing the things we didn’t do well in Vegas and we worked hard the last couple days of practice since we got to clean those things up.” Soderberg said.
On Nov. 22, the Lions will travel to Quincy University to face the 2-1 Hawks in another non-conference match.
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