Feb. 14, 2007

Thunder strikes Bulldogs in Angola, 62-70
Late 22-1 TSU run overcomes Kubish’s hot shooting

ANGOLA, Ind.—The Adrian College men’s basketball team fell 62-70 at Tri-State University on Wednesday night.

The Bulldogs, 8-14 overall and 7-6 in the MIAA, led by 11 points with under seven minutes remaining, but a 22-1 Thunder run over the next five minutes gave the hosts the game and rights to third place in the conference heading into Saturday’s regular-season finale.

Adrian now seemingly has to defeat Alma College on Saturday night to secure fourth place in the MIAA and earn a first-round home game in the league tournament next week.

The loss did not come because of a lack of effort or inspiration. Senior forward Andy Kubish continued his hot shooting touch, scoring a career-high 23 points with five three-pointers. Junior forward Ian Weber scored 11 points and grabbed seven rebounds before a costly technical foul late in the game spurred the Tri-State rally. Freshman guard Lamar Cardenas matched Weber’s point and rebound output.

Ryan Kinzie and Tony Bedford led the Thunder with 16 points apiece.

Tri-State jumped to an early 15-4 lead eight minutes into play, but Kubish answered with a 12-0 run to give the Bulldogs their first lead. That’s right, the senior hit three triples, including a four-point play off a Desmond Young assist, and a jumper in one-minute and 53-seconds to erase the Thunder advantage and vault Adrian into the lead.

Ryan Gallus scored seven points in the last six minutes of the half to maintain a four-point lead at intermission.

With the visitors’ lead hovering at five points, two Matt Wayne lay-ins and another scoring flurry by Kubish in the middle of the final stanza eventually led to the 11-point lead that evaporated late for the Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs will host the Scots of Alma on Saturday at 7:30 p.m. in the Merillat Center.