Mistakes mount in Cardinals' first home loss of season

By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer

PARK HILLS - The Mineral Area College Cardinals suffered a rocky start to their current five-game homestand on Tuesday as the 28th-ranked Southwestern Illinois Blue Storm ripped through the Bob Sechrest, Sr. Fieldhouse for a 81-74 victory.

The action was highly physical throughout the bulk of the contest, and seemed to be a disadvantage to the Cardinals, who quickly piled up double-digit foul totals in each half. Mineral Area also hindered its cause by committing 23 turnovers and six offensive fouls.

"We made a lot of young mistakes tonight," said MAC coach Corey Tate. "but we just have to keep working through it."

Ryan Byrne opened the scoring with a three-point field goal for the Cardinals, but that would prove to be largest lead of the night for the home team.

SW Illinois (3-1) used excellent interior defense to slow down the Cardinals' attack, while building an early double-digit lead. Sharp passing set up back-to-back triples from Jacob Motteler and Brett Ledbetter, capping an 8-0 run that put the Blue Storm ahead 17-7.

Byrne's second three-pointer of the first half trimmed the margin to 25-22, but SW Illinois quickly stretched it back out to eight points on an open three from Tommy House.

A leaning jumper by Aaron Jackson brought MAC to within four in the waning minutes of the half, but the Blue Storm continued to make timely shots on its way to a 40-32 halftime lead.

MAC (2-2) appeared to be on the comeback trail after opening the second half on a 6-0 run to make the score 40-38. The Cardinals established a strong inside presence with a back-door feed to Dantwan Chillers for a lay-up, and an offensive putback by Matt Foster.

SW Illinois was again able to take the Cardinals out of their offensive rhythm by increasing the level of physical intensity, and expanded the lead in the process. Jon Bohanna followed his own resounding dunk with a nice pull-up jumper to restore a double-digit lead for the Blue Storm.

Each time MAC tried to close the gap, SW Illinois connected on an equally clutch shot. A three-pointer by the Cardinals' Kenny Burke was promptly matched by Ledbetter, making the score 55-45 with 10:30 to play.

The Cardinals were more deflated one minute later when Foster fell to the floor in pain, and was immediately taken to the hospital with an apparent ankle injury.

After MAC misfired on two straight shots from close range, Motteler and House knocked down back-to-back triples to put the Cardinals in a 63-50 hole that they could not escape. A long three from Burke cut the difference to 76-69 with 28 seconds left, but the Blue Storm shot well from the free-throw line down the stretch to close out the win.

Ledbetter topped the scoring column for SW Illinois with 16 points. House added 14 points while Motteler and Bohanna chipped in 12 apiece.

Byrne hit four triples on the night and posted a team-high 16 points for the Cardinals. Burke tossed in 12 points and Aaron Jackson had eight.

The MAC men will return to the court this weekend as they host the Rosener's Classic. The Cardinals will face the Missouri Baptist J.V. squad at 7 p.m. on Friday before battling Penn Valley at 3 p.m. on Saturday.