Big Second Half Effort Pushes Men’s Basketball to Road Win at Goshen

GOSHEN, Ind. – The Mount Vernon Nazarene University men's basketball team (16-11, 8-9 CL) played on the road at Goshen College (9-18, 2-15 CL) on Wednesday, February 18.

Goshen came out strong on its senior night, jumping out to a 9-4 lead early. Goshen maintained control, using red-hot shooting to stay in front. The Maple Leafs were firing on all cylinders on the offensive end of the floor and led 40-30 with 6:40 remaining in the first half. MVNU found a rhythm late in the half, going on a 15-7 run heading into halftime. The Cougars trailed 45-47 after the first 20 minutes of play. Goshen made 12 first half threes at a 54.5% clip in the first half.

In the second half, MVNU began to lock in on defense, slowing down the Maple Leaf attack and taking just its second lead of the game at 53-52 with 14:59 remaining after a Peyton Heiss bucket. Tied at 56-56, Abib Abib's free throw put MVNU up for good. The Cougars went on a 15-0 run, taking a 72-56 lead with 7:49 left in the game. MVNU continued to pour it on the Maple Leafs and grew its lead to as many as 28 points. The Cougars would win by a final score of 97-69 in the end. MVNU played excellent second half defense, holding Goshen to just 3-of-16 shooting from three and 30% overall from the floor.

MVNU shot 49.3% from the floor overall, 25.9% from three, and went 20-for-23 (87%) at the line. Heiss led MVNU with 20 points and a career-high 15 rebounds. Isaiah Brown had 19 points and five assists. Abib finished with 16 points and five rebounds, while Reed Platfoot contributed 12 points and eight rebounds.

Coach Ronai's Thoughts

"Super proud of our group response in the second half defensively. We have to continue to improve on that end of the floor. Looking forward to getting better tomorrow."

What's Next

MVNU hosts Taylor University on Senior Day on Saturday, February 21 in Ariel Arena. Tip-off is at 3:00 p.m.

Mount Vernon Nazarene University is a private, intentionally Christian teaching university for traditional age students, graduate students, and working adults. With a 327-acre main campus in Mount Vernon, Ohio, MVNU emphasizes academic excellence, spiritual growth, and service to community and church. MVNU offers an affordable education both in-seat and online to nearly 2,200 students from 36 states, 1 U.S. commonwealth and 41 foreign countries.