Jewell overcomes first-half deficit for win over Park

By DAVID BOYCE

The Kansas City Star

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A 14-point, first-half deficit at home meant nothing to William Jewell.

Fueled by the quickness of guard Jacques Wilson and some timely outside shooting from Kyle Fisher, Jewell surged ahead midway through the second half and beat Park University 86-74 Thursday evening at the Mabee Center.

Through most of the first half it looked pretty bleak for the Cardinals, especially when Park held a commanding 30-16 lead. Jewell trailed only 38-32 at halftime.

“Our key to winning is defense,” said Wilson, who finished with a game-high 27 points. “We gave up a lot of drive penetration, and they were kicking out to shooters.

“In the second half we made the adjustment. We went from zone to man, and we pressured them a little bit to get them out of their offense.”

In the first 8 minutes of the second half, the Cardinals closed to 54-50 and then went on a 12-0 spurt for a 62-54 lead.

Park simply couldn’t slow down Wilson, who used his speed to get to the basket for high-percentage layups.

Fisher also stuck a few daggers in the Pirates, connecting on five three-pointers and finishing with 19 points. Larry Mandacina added 15 for the Cardinals.

“In the first half we were settling for a lot of jump shots,” Fisher said. “We didn’t work the ball around like we could. In the second half we started attacking the basket a little more. When you attack the basket, you get kickouts and that’s when you get those wide open looks.”

The win kept Jewell undefeated at 3-0. Park fell to 2-4, and the setback nullified a very good first half. Jon Meriweather was dominating the paint, and Clyde McKinney was controlling the game on the perimeter.

Meriweather finished with 24 points, and McKinney added 15.

Posted on Thu, Nov. 13, 2008 10:15 PM

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