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Tough inside
New Haven controls the tempo and Oran's potent inside game
PARK HILLS -- Controlling the paint for most of the night Wednesday, New Haven defenders didn't make things easy for Oran's Jon Morrow, whose presence normally allows the Eagles plenty of points inside.
In getting Morrow in foul trouble early, New Haven was able to hold the Eagles' big man to only six points on the night while taking advantage of poor shooting from Oran to pull out a 52-41 win.
"They did a great job on (Morrow) defensively with 6-9 (Elijah Fleer) and their other kids inside making it hard for us to get it to him," Oran coach Joe Shoemaker. "He got in foul trouble (early) and that played a lot of havoc on our rotation and some different things."
Trailing by 14 points as they entered the fourth quarter down 35-21, things seemed to finally click for Oran in the final frame as the Eagles worked their way back to within five of New Haven late in the period.
After Oran went on a 9-2 run in the middle of the period, Tyler Heuring was able to turn the contest into a two score game when he hit a 3-pointer with a 1:27 left, making it 36-31.
"We moved one of (their defenders) out and opened things up for some dribble penetration," Oran's Reece Mangels said of the Eagles' comeback. "That seemed to make a lot more difference. People started knocking down big shots, we got back in it mentally and we were ready to play then."
Still down by five with under a minute left, however, Oran was forced to start sending New Haven to the line as the Shamrocks looked to run out the clock with quick passes.
Hitting 7 of their final 8 free throws, New Haven was able to once again pull away as the Eagles missed three 3-pointers in the final 18 seconds to seal their fate.
"We just started missing some more shots again," the Eagles' Nathan Michelsen said. "It got to a point were we were speeding (New Haven) up and then we just couldn't hit shots. It was too big of a whole we dug ourselves."
Shoemaker gave his boys credit for their resiliency to fight back after watching their deficit grow for three straight quarters.
"We built ourselves a big hole," he said. "I'm very proud of them for not giving up. It would have been easy down 14 to pack it in, but they battled back."
Most of New Haven's damage was done in the first two quarters, as cold shooting by Oran along with a tempo controlled by the Shamrocks allowed them to come out of the first frame up 12-4 before pulling away by 13 entering the half.
"We didn't meet the intensity that we needed to," Morrow said. "They came out hot and we were having a little trouble knocking down some shots."
With 12 points, Michelsen led the Eagles' cause, followed by Mangels with 10.
For the Shamrocks, Lance Gerlemann's 16 points were a game-high. He was followed closely on the team by Fleer and Austin Peirick with 15 and 12 points respectively. On the game, New Haven outrebounded Oran 24-19.
With the loss, the Eagles finish the season at 19-9. They lose a total of eight seniors to graduation this year, including four of their five starters in Morrow, Michelson, Heuring and Preston Scherer.
| New Haven | 12 | 12 | 11 | 17 | - | 52 |
| Oran | 4 | 7 | 10 | 20 | - | 41 |
NEW HAVEN (52) -- Ryan Menke 2, Eric Engelbrecht 5, Austin Peirick 12, Lance Gerlemann 16, Charlie Tritch 2, Elijah Fleer 15. FG 17, FT 17-24, F 11. (3-pointers: Peirick 1. Fouled out: none).
ORAN (41) -- Seth Ressel 6, Nathan Michelsen 12, Tyler Heuring 5, Zac Chasteen 2, Reece Mangels 10, Jon Morrow 6. FG 15, FT 7-8, F 20. (3-pointers: Michelsen 2, Heuring 1, Mangels 1. Fouled out: Heuring).