Fort Wayne, IN – In the first game of the ‘Dons doubleheader in Hilliard Gates Sports Center, the Purdue Fort Wayne Mastodons men’s basketball team (2-3) played NCCAA DII Boyce College out of Louisville, Kentucky. After a poor second half performance Wednesday night in a loss against Western Michigan, the ‘Dons looked to bounce back and get momentum and confidence back before heading back out on the road. Though there were a few segments of some sloppy basketball, the Mastodons took care of business as expected, with large scoring totals in each half and seven Mastodons in double figures en route to a 118-68 win on Saturday.
How it happened: The Mastodons got out to a quick 6-0 start thanks to an opening basket by Corey Hadnot II blowing by his defender for the layup and two baskets from the Denver transfer, DeAndre Craig Jr. To make the opening seconds worse for the much smaller Boyce, their starting center, Andrew Thomas, picked up two fouls in the first 30 seconds of the game, sending him to the bench.
Before the flood gates could open for Purdue Fort Wayne, Boyce showed a bit of resiliency, proving that they weren’t going to go away quite yet. The Bulldogs’ Josh Sangalli would take matters into his own hands and play very well against a much more talented Division I team. Two baskets and good defense would allow his team to stay in the game for longer than most would have expected. After tying the game at 9-9, the Mastodons would take the lead with an Ebrahim Kaba three-pointer that would put them ahead for good. After escaping the early scare, trying not to have the same issues as Cleveland State against DIII Capital University, the ‘Dons coasted through the half.
After pushing through some turnovers and defensive miscues, the ‘Dons would really open up the game and put it out of reach with five minutes left in the first half. PFW would go on a few mini-runs and score a few baskets for every basket that Boyce was able to find, searching high and low and through every coat pocket. The final five minutes would see the Mastodons outscore the Bulldogs 19-10, and the and-one layup and free throw by Craig with four seconds left in the half would set the score at 62-37 at the halftime break.
In the half, the Mastodons would shoot 25-of-41 (61%) from the floor while Boyce didn’t have a bad half either going 15-of-34 (44.1%). Both teams made three triples in the half, but the ‘Dons won the first half turnover battle 10-3. A Mastodon team that has historically been know for the three-point shot being the favorite attack in the arsenal scored 42 points in the paint against the smaller Bulldogs.
The second half would not fair much better for the Bulldogs. The same pattern of “one for me, a few for you” would continue for the Boyce. Before the 12 minute media timeout, the Mastodons would a free throw to fall from Chris Morgan, a layup from Kaba, a layup from Mikale Stevenson, and a three pointer from Yuval Levin. Boyce would slow the bleeding slightly with two threes from Sangalli.
The Mastodons’ second largest run would come in the final quarter of the game with an 8-0 run as part of a greater 13-4 run to extend the lead to 40 with a Deangelo Elisee free throw. A few minutes later, PFW’s Mason Shrout would bury a three and then get a steal on the next possession. The steal would lead to Levin running the fast break down the court and making a layup on the other end. On the layup attempt, Boyce’s Caleb Hawley would make an “attempt” at the ball and end up rocking Levin across the side of the head. Hawley would be assessed a Flagrant 2 and disqualified from the game. Levin would make the and-one free throw as well as free throw granted for the flagrant foul.
The largest run for the Mastodons would be 12-0, with 11 of the 12 points coming from Shrout on three three-pointers and a layup. Morgan would hit a free throw in the middle of the run. Shrout would finish the game with a game-high four three pointers on seven total attempts.
The Mastodons would slowly build the lead out to as large as 52 throughout the half. The lead probably would have been larger if the ‘Dons were a little more intentional with dribbles and passes. Boyce was able to force 11 turnovers by the Mastodons in the second half. Those 11 turnovers probably saved Boyce from holding the honor of being the opponent against whom PFW scored the most points ever. Those 137 points were scored by the ‘Dons last week against Dominican (Ill.).
The Mastodons would end the game going 45-of-78 (58%) from the field and 9-of-23 (39.1%) from behind the arc. Both shooting percentages would be good for second best on the young season. The Mastodons made a season high 19 free throws on a season high 28 attempts. They would end with 64 points in the paint and have another good sign with 57 bench points. The Mastodons would only allow Boyce to score two fast break points in the second half. The Bulldogs would tie the Mastodons in second half rebounds but lose the battle throughout the game 27-35.
Seven Mastodons would finish the game in double figures with Hadnot and Craig leading the team with 18 points, and Shrout finishing with 16 points. Darius Duffy and Kaba did what they were supposed to do against a smaller team hauling in eight and seven rebounds respectively. For the Bulldogs, Sangalli was impressive. Sangalli hit multiple shots off the dribble at the 16-18 foot mid-range. He led all scorers with 22 points in 26 minutes. The win for head coach Jon Coffman would be his 200th win at the helm of the Mastodons program. He already holds the program record for wins and is the winningest active mid-major head coach in Indiana, according to ESPN.
What’s Next: A much larger test awaits the Mastodons. PFW will head out west to the Beehive State to take on the Utah Utes (3-0) out of the Big 12 on Tuesday, November 18. This will be the third time that the ‘Dons and Utes have squared off, and the Utes have won both prior meetings, both in Salt Lake City. The Mastodons will not be at a huge height disadvantage taking on the Power 4 opponent. In fact, the Utes’ tallest players (4) are listed at 6-9. The Mastodons have three players listed at 6-9 and three more at 6-8. Both teams are shooting at similar clips as well. PFW is shooting better overall from the floor, at 50% as a team compared to Utah’s 47.2%. The Utes can hit their share of threes, shooting 33.3% which is slightly better than the Mastodons’ 32.2%. This game appears to be two teams looking into a mirror. The game is scheduled for a 9:00 pm ET start and will be broadcasted on ESPN+.
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