MATTOON, ILL. – The Warriors struck from the air again on Wednesday night.
Wabash Valley hit 14 3-point field goals en route to a 105-70 Great Rivers Athletic Conference victory over Lake Land at Laker Fieldhouse. Coupled with the 12 long-range shots the Warriors hit on Saturday against Lewis & Clark, that gives them 26 treys in the last two games – both wins for WVC, which improved to 15-8 (8-3 in GRAC play).
In the first half, the Warriors connected on 5-of-9 shots from beyond the arc line – three straight by Justin Boyd off the bench. In the second half, the output grew to 9-of-11 connections, with three apiece from Bobby Harvey and Elijah Hicks included. That's 14-of-20 on the night from long range – for an uber-impressive 70 percent.
"We've got good shooters," said Wabash Valley head coach Mike Carpenter, who added that his team has been doing a "better job of sharing the ball. For us to be as good as we are capable of being, we've got to share the ball."
A look at the stat sheet bore that out. The Warriors doled out 22 assists, 14 coming in the second half.
The recent Carpenter lineup tweak of bringing 6-foot-9 sophomore Amir Yusuf off the bench early paid dividends again. After producing a season-high 18 points against Lewis & Clark, Yusuf led all scorers in the game on Wednesday, scoring 17.
Whether Yusuf gets any more calls from the bench remains to be seen, however. "We need to shake it up," Carpenter said. "You never want to stick with the same lineup. Amir two games in a row came in and did a really good job for us. We need a different look to make things work."
Boyd finished with 15 points for WVC. Harvey added 14, and Marcus Garrett 10.
Lake Land (5-18, 1-12 in GRAC) trailed by 14 points at halftime, 47-33. But any hopes for a reversal of fortune were squelched by a 28-11 Warrior surge at the outset of the second half that put the game completely out of reach.
The Lakers got 15 points from 6-foot sophomore guard Adam Price to lead the way. Jason Larson, a 6-4 freshman guard, came off the bench to add 12 points to the cause.
The road trip continues for WVC on Saturday at Shawnee, followed by Lincoln Trail on Feb. 12 (Wed.) before finally returning to Spencer Sports Center on Feb. 15 (Sat.) against John A. Logan.