men’s basketball
September 26, 2013
Young prepares for basketball season with deeper court vision
The Goshen College men’s basketball team officially begins practice on Sunday, after spending several weeks focusing on physical conditioning. Neal Young, who became the men’s coach last April, said players were tested for the mile run, court sprints and weightlifting when they came back from the summer; they’ll be tested again in advance of the first practice (he hopes the team averages under 6 minutes for the mile). “I think that basketball is a quickness game and a leverage game,” Young said. “The team is trying to be quicker and more versatile than our opponents, so it will be an...
April 3, 2013
Young steps up as new men’s basketball coach
The twenty-day interregnum between Goshen men’s basketball coaches is over. Neal Young, an Anderson University graduate and at one time the top Leaf lieutenant under departed coach Gary Chupp, was introduced as the fourteenth head coach in GC history at a press conference on Tuesday afternoon. Young spent three seasons, from 2008 to 2011, as an assistant on the Goshen bench; he was associate head coach for the last of those years. He played three years of college basketball at Anderson, an NCAA Division III school, and served as an assistant coach for two seasons at the since-closed Anderson Highland...
March 13, 2013
Chupp resigns as men’s basketball head coach
Men’s basketball head coach Gary Chupp announced his resignation Wednesday, ending a six-year tenure at the Maple Leafs’ helm. Under Chupp’s direction, the Maple Leafs won more games than they had for any other coach, surpassing the 87 won by his immediate predecessor Stan Daugherty. But on the heels of a tenth-place conference finish, Chupp’s 89-93 overall record will make him the eighth consecutive men’s basketball coach to leave GC with a sub-.500 mark. The Maple Leaf job marked a homecoming for Chupp — the Goshen native graduated from Bethany Christian High School in 1987, and his career took him...
February 13, 2013
Seniors fall in final home game
Fueled by the biggest home crowd of the year, the Goshen men’s basketball team turned up the intensity for their Senior Night game against the Huntington University Foresters on Saturday night. The crowd, who turned out to see off their seniors and taste the free cupcakes and Menno Tea provided by the Campus Activities Council, ended up seeing a great game as well. Goshen jumped out to an early lead and led for a majority of the game. In the second half, however, Huntington battled back to claim a lead in the closing minutes. The Foresters rode solid free throw...
February 7, 2013
Who said free throws don’t matter?
Whoever has watched a basketball game and said the words “free throws never matter” has not watched enough basketball. One may think the art of the free throw is simple because the player doesn’t have anyone guarding them while they take the shot. Yet this simple skill can easily be tarnished and wasted, and sometimes the fate of a game may hang in the balance due to free throws. Case in point? Tuesday’s men basketball game vs. Mount Vernon. Final Score? 66-61. Number of free throws shot and made by the Maple Leafs? 16-of-23. Now, anyone with math skills can realize...
January 30, 2013
Basketball: Tradition vs. new age
As an aspiring sports journalist, I have watched my fair share of sports — particularly basketball. I grew up loving the sport of basketball and always wanted to play it. However, I have never been the athletic type. My love of basketball has made me realize that the style in which basketball is played has been changing over the years, and not just in my own generation. In the age of Larry Bird and Jerry West, we witnessed a more traditional (some would call “boring”) style of basketball, with methodical ball passing that resulted in a mid-range jump shot or...
January 29, 2013
Leafs comeback too little, too late
The Goshen College men’s basketball team fell just short in their comeback bid against the University of St. Francis Cougars on Saturday afternoon. The Maple Leafs fell behind before mounting a ferocious comeback late in the second half, but St. Francis held on by completing 11 of 12 free throws down the stretch. The Leafs had reason to be optimistic entering the game after falling by just three points to St. Francis on Dec. 1. Now playing at home and hungry for their first conference win of the season, the Leafs started strong as they took a 6-4 lead. However,...
January 24, 2013
Leafs fall to Taylor
Kyle Davis, a senior, led the Goshen men’s basketball team with 16 points, but it wasn’t enough as the Leafs fell to the Taylor Trojans 87-71 on Saturday, Jan. 19. Davis finished serving a three-game suspension against Spring Arbor a week earlier, and his running 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer electrified the home crowd in his first home game since Jan. 3. “I was really excited to come back and play on the home floor,” Davis said of his return to play. “I missed playing with the team. I was happy to be out there working hard for a win.”...
January 15, 2013
Learning all about Luckey
The Record met with Stefon Luckey to find out what makes him tick and to get the inside scoop on Goshen College men’s basketball. Luckey is a sophomore who transferred to Goshen this year to continue his college basketball career. He hails from Cassopolis, Michigan, where he attended Ross Beatty High School. Q: Where did you go to college before this and why did you transfer? A: I went to Glen Oaks Community College in Central Michigan. It was a community college, and I transferred because I didn’t really like it there and because I met Jerron Jamerson (a junior)....
November 29, 2012
Maple Leafs fall In first home loss
In what is always a competitive matchup in the Crossroads League conference, the visiting Bethel College Pilots had a pair of big runs during their matchup against the Maple Leafs Tuesday night, beating the Leafs by a final score of 99-85 in men’s basketball. The highlight of the night for the leafs was Jerron Jamerson, a junior, who scored a career-high 27 points and went 10-of-15 from the field. Jamerson also brought down 10 rebounds for the Maple Leafs, earning his first double-double as a Maple Leaf. The Maple Leafs got off to a rough start, as the team missed...
November 15, 2012
Maple Leafs remain unbeaten
The Goshen College Men’s Basketball team continued on their early season hot streak, beating the visiting Madonna University Crusaders by a final score of 100-81. The Maple Leafs were fighting the Crusaders basket for basket early in the game, however a quick 13 point swing in the Maple Leafs favor turned the tides towards the Leafs. The Maple Leafs never looked back after this swing, even with the Crusaders fighting hard throughout the game. The starting core of the Maple Leafs were the main offensive stars of this game, with each of the starting five scoring in double digits; Sophomore...
November 1, 2012
Balanced attack starts Leafs 1-0
The Goshen men’s basketball team was picked to finish tenth in the Crossroads League preseason poll, with the rest of the league unsure how the Leafs would respond to the loss of four starters. On Tuesday night, at least, the score spoke for itself. Tavo Parral, a senior, came off the bench for a game-high 16 points, shooting 4-for-6 from three-point range as Goshen defeated Aquinas 76-66 in both teams’ season opener. Parral’s career high led a balanced attack for the Leafs, followed by 15 points apiece from Kyle Davis, a senior, and Stefon Luckey, a sophomore. Matt Glick, a...
September 27, 2012
McCollum excels as basketball ambassador on world court
Errick McCollum II holds the single season and career scoring records in basketball at Goshen College. In the spring of his senior year in 2010, as a 6’1” guard, he executed a soaring dunk that became an ESPN SportsCenter’s Top 10 play. But unlike the majority of Goshen College students, McCollum never traveled abroad en route to earning his undergraduate degree. His credentials as a global citizen came later, courtesy of his ability to speak with the basketball in any language. This year, McCollum, who is 25, is playing for Apollon Patra, a team in the Greek Basketball League. The...
April 11, 2012
Five basketball players to transfer
After an 18-13 season, three juniors and two freshmen look for other places to play. The Goshen College men’s basketball team finished with 18 victories, the most since the 2009-2010 season. They won 13 straight games, which was the longest streak since 2003-2004, when the Leafs won 16 in a row. They knocked off five top 25 opponents – four in the top 15 – during the streak, including the defending national champions, Cornerstone University, which was then ranked sixth in the country. But the Leafs dropped 12 of their next 17, including 10 of 15 in the Mid-Central...
February 23, 2012
Men’s basketball season concludes after losses to IWU
The end of the season in the Mid-Central Collegiate Conference was a bittersweet one for the Goshen Maple Leafs (18-13, 8-10), who fell to No. 10 indiana Wesleyan (21-10, 12-6) twice in five days. Wednesday night, Wildcat guard Jordan Weidner, a sophomore, led all scorers with 29 points on 6-of-10 shooting from the floor. Despite Goshen’s 35-34 halftime lead, iWU prevailed 74- 66 in MCC quarterfinal action. Mathew Martin, a junior, and Kody Chandler, a first-year, led Goshen’s balanced attack with 14 points apiece. Martin contributed seven rebounds for the Maple Leafs, while Geoffry Gilot, a senior, and Garner Small,...