Will Cook County News

By Claude Martinez.

Whiting, IN — The Governors State University Jaguars floated on top of the Calumet College of St. Joseph Crimson Wave on February 11 by a score of 89-79.

A key area for the Jaguars in this win was discipline and taking the game one bucket at a time.

Free-throw shooting proved to be a key factor. In the second half, GSU entered the bonus at the 14:11 mark, giving the Jaguars consistent opportunities at the line.

In the first half, they went 16-19 (84.2%) from the stripe. They followed that up by shooting 22-27 (81.5%) in the second half, finishing 38-46 overall (82.6%).

“We always want to get better,” said Governors State head coach Tony Bates. “We made free throws a priority and turnovers. So we always want to get better on the free throw side of the basket. But defensively just be a little bit better on it… but we’ll work on it.”

Governors State originally went up big early in the first half. They held a 21-point lead at the 12:27 mark and then started to slow down. Coach Bates took a timeout to get his team refocused.

“Coach [Jason] Hawkins (Calumet College head coach) teams’ always are prepared. They play hard,” stated Bates. “We went up 24-3. And on our timeout, I told the guys they’re not going to quit. So, we have to continue to make strides. They made a run. Basketball’s a game of runs. So, I expected the run to happen. But we were fortunate enough to hang on to it tonight.”

At the time of the postgame interview, Governors State found itself in a three-way tie for first place in the CCAC with the University of St. Francis (Joliet) and Olivet Nazarene University (Bourbonnais) at 12-3. With the conference title hanging in the balance, Bates addressed what his team must do to remain in the fight.

“We’re just going to keep going one and 0, right now,” said Tony Bates. “We got Trinity Christian on Saturday and St. Ambrose. So, we just keep going one and 0. That’s the only thing we can control. We don’t look further down the road.”

Governors State (17-8, 13-4 CCAC) is now tied for first place with the University of St. Francis (18-6, 13-4 CCAC), which defeated Olivet Nazarene 77-74 in overtime on February 11.

Watch a few highlights of the game on YouTube (linked below), Facebook or Instagram @ Will Cook County News.

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