men’s basketball
January 25, 2018
Goshen men fall in tale of two halves
Senior Billy Geschke poured in 20 points to no avail as the Goshen College men’s basketball team dropped in a 107-86 loss to Marian University this past Saturday afternoon in a pivotal Crossroads League matchup. Geschke’s team-leading mark was nothing more than routine for the veteran pushing his career scoring total to 1,344, just four points shy of 10th place in school history. Goshen’s (10-12, 3-7 CL) second-leading scorer, assist leader and top defensive swiper was fellow senior Devin Heath-Granger. Heath-Granger finished the 40-minute affair with 17 to accompany his eight dimes and three steals. The Indianapolis native’s performance moved...
January 18, 2018
An Early Heath-Granger Hot Hand Ends in Defeat to Taylor
The Goshen College men’s basketball program fell to Taylor University 76-72 at Gunden Gymnasium this past Saturday to drop to 10-10 on the season and 3-5 in Crossroads League play. Devin Heath-Granger, a senior point guard, got Goshen off to a fast start, making his first five shots including three 3-pointers. GC was ahead 16-9 by the first media timeout. The Maple Leafs kept the pressure on the Trojans and eventually led 27-14 at the halfway point of the first half. Taylor would not fade away early in the game as the Trojans brought the pressure right back to Goshen,...
November 16, 2017
Men’s basketball knocked down by top-ranked Cornerstone
Logan Primerano, a junior, made his Goshen College debut on Saturday afternoon and punched in a team-high 14 points in just one half of play as the Goshen College men’s basketball team fell in defeat against the no. 1 ranked Cornerstone University Golden Eagles 97-67 at Mol Arena. Primerano missed Goshen’s first five games of the season due to injury and checked into Saturdays game at the start of the second half to register on 5-of-11 shots from the field to go along with three gimme’s from the charity stripe. The NCAA Division I transfer from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell...
November 9, 2017
Men’s basketball caps undefeated weekend with win over Rio Grande
Seniors Billy Geschke and Christian Grider combined once again to lead the Goshen College men’s basketball team to an 87-82 victory over the University of Rio Grande in the Caleb Dimmich Memorial Classic at Luckey Arena on Saturday. Geschke and Grider joined forces to pencil in 51 of Goshen’s 87 points in the 40-minute affair. Grider lead the charge for the Leafs (4-1) with a game-high 27 points to Geschke’s 24. The 27-point outing for Grider was just five points shy of his career-high set earlier this season against Lawrence Tech and the third best of his career. The scoring...
November 2, 2017
Men’s basketball splits in weekend tournament
The Goshen men’s basketball team finished their weekend by way of one win and one loss in the Jaguar Tip-Off Classic hosted by Governor’s State University held at GSU’s Athletic and Recreation Center. In the Leaf’s first of two games in the three-team round robin tournament, senior Billy Geschke punched in a career best with 33 points to knock off the Jaguars in a 91-88 victory. Geschke accomplished the career evening with a perfect 3-for-3 mark from behind the arc and a routine 10-for-11 showing at the free-throw line. Geschke is no stranger to cashing in on the freebies: his...
October 26, 2017
Men’s basketball opens season with win
A career-high of 32 points and a game-high eight rebounds from senior Christian Grider proved just enough as the Goshen College men’s basketball team opened its 2017-2018 season with an 82-77 victory Tuesday evening over Lawrence Technological University at Gunden Gymnasium. A shootout between Grider and Lawrence Tech’s Devonte Myles headlined play throughout the contest as Myles eked out a two-point advantage over Grider to claim his spot as the game’s leading scorer with 34. Both Myles and Grider finished the evening shooting an exact 12-for-21 from the field. Despite a stellar evening for Myles and 20 points from counterpart...
March 16, 2017
Phillips reflects on parental support system throughout career
To be honest, playing a sport is incredibly exciting. Being on the court, field or even center stage, displaying your raw talent in front of hundreds or thousands of people is powerful. For myself, it’s the game of basketball that keeps me going. I love hearing the crowd and scores of fans cheering me on. It gives me energy to perform to my highest ability. Fast forward to the locker room—I’m looking down at my phone, checking to see if I have received a message from my number one supporters: my mother, Robin Phillips and my father, Kevin Phillips Sr....
February 16, 2017
Leafs lose shot at conference play
Strong performances by seniors Kevin Phillips and Xavier Newson on Senior Day fell just short as a three-pointer by Billy Geschke, a junior, rimmed-out with time expiring in a 66-64 defeat to Taylor University this past Saturday in Gunden Gymnasium. Phillips finished the day with 18 points and eight rebounds on a near perfect 8-of-9 shooting from the floor. His counterpart, Newson, added 15 points and four rebounds. The two seniors combined to score exactly half of Goshen’s 66 team points, and played a large role in the 42-to-24 points in the paint advantage for the Leafs. Geschke was the...
February 9, 2017
Comeback bid falls short
The Goshen College men’s basketball team made a late push but ultimately fell 75-70 to the Cougars of Mount Vernon Nazarene University on Tuesday night in Mount Vernon, Ohio. The Leafs trailed by as many as 14 with just under 12 minutes to play before charging back to cut the lead to 59-57 with five and a half minutes remaining. Mount Vernon attempted to pull away late, but Goshen refused to let up and managed to stay within striking distance throughout the game’s closing minutes. However, the Leafs comeback attempt fell short as clutch free throw shooting and the dwindling...
January 26, 2017
Wildcat attack overpowers Leafs
A red hot start by the sixth ranked Wildcats of Indiana Wesleyan University proved too much for the Goshen College men’s basketball team as they were defeated 87-78 Tuesday night at Luckey Arena. The Wildcats (19-4, 9-2 in conference) made 21 of their 27 first half shot attempts in route to a commanding 54-39 advantage heading into the break. The 15-point lead quickly extended to 23 early in the second frame, but the Leafs refused to lay down. Led by Billy Geschke, a junior, and Xavier Newson, a senior, the Leafs sparked a 16-0 run partway through the half. The...
January 19, 2017
Leafs hold off late rally
The Goshen College men’s basketball team had to survive a late charge by Huntington University, but were able to hold on for a 85-80 victory over the visiting Foresters on Tuesday night. The Maple Leafs entered the contest in need of a win to stop a five game losing streak to conference opponents and a six game losing streak overall. A tightly contested first half came to a close with Goshen holding a slim five point lead at 39-34 as neither team was able to really seize control of the game’s opening 20 minutes. The largest lead of the half...
December 8, 2016
Barrie brings international experience to Maple Leafs basketball
Alhassan Barrie speaks five languages: English, Dutch, French, German, and Creole English. He has lived in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Gambia, the United States, and Belgium. As Neal Young, the men’s basketball coach, said, Barrie is “the definition of a global citizen” at a college that counts global citizenship as a core value. Barrie was born in Sierra Leone, but has lived most of his life in Antwerp, Belgium, paying little attention to basketball until he was introduced to a basketball program at his high school. “I really didn’t want to do it,” he said, “but my mom basically...
December 8, 2016
Goshen upsets top team in the nation
The underdog role prevailed for the Maple Leafs as the Goshen College men’s basketball team upset the top team in the nation, the University of Saint Francis 89-80 in Crossroads League action last Saturday afternoon in Gunden Gymnasium. The reigning NAIA Division II national champion, Saint Francis (11-1, 2-1 CL) came into the contest as the highest scoring offense in the nation, averaging over 95 points per contest. The Cougars lived up to those expectations early on, jumping out to a 9-0 lead just two minutes into the first half. Goshen stayed within striking distance and then used an 11-0...
December 1, 2016
Maple Leafs can’t hold off late run
The Goshen College men’s basketball team hosted Indiana Wesleyan University on Tuesday night, and for the first 25 minutes of play it looked like the Maple Leafs would upset the second-ranked team in the country. A late Wildcat run however was enough to give Indiana Wesleyan a 78-75 win. Kody Chandler, a junior, gave Goshen the lead just 39 seconds into the game, a lead that the Leafs would not relinquish in the first half as they took a 43-34 lead into the halftime break. The Wildcats came out fast in the second half and quickly closed the gap as...
November 17, 2016
Maple Leaf men shoot past No. 22 Saint Xavier
The Goshen College men’s basketball team had four double-digit scorers and a season best 38-of-63 (60.3 percent) shooting performance en route to a dominating 108-79 upset victory over no. 22 Saint Xavier last Saturday evening in Gunden Gymnasium. The game stayed close through the first few minutes, with Saint Xavier holding a slight 24-23 lead with 11 minutes left in the half. However, the Maple Leafs (3-2) then went on a 16-0 run to take charge en route to a comfortable 51-35 lead heading into halftime. Goshen shot 19-of-32 (59.4 percent) from the field in the first stanza. The shooting...