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Judson News
Men's Basketball - Sat, Jan 26, 2008
Dewayne Robinson
Dewayne Robinson
Judson 78, Trinity Christian 67 - Box
 

Elgin, Ill.- In the biggest game of the season, Judson University (13-6/6-0) came away with their biggest win of the year over Trinity Christian College (12-9/4-1), 78-67. The win gives JU sole possession of first place in the CCAC and ties the longest winning streak in school history. This win also is big in the national poll as TCC had received 18 votes coming into the game.

It was a night of scoring, also, as the top two scorers in the CCAC faced off in JU’s Dewayne Robinson and TCC’s Kurt Gruppen. Robinson finished with 23 points while Gruppen had 20 for TCC. JU had three other scorers in double figures with Ilija Bojanic (20), Steffan Williams (14), and Justen Boyd (11).

 

The game was as exciting as the two top scorers, also. JU had as large as an 11 point lead in the game and was up eight at the half. TCC never had the lead in the entire game.

TCC came within two points, 67-65, with 2:46 to play in the game but Judson finished the game on an 11-2 run making 7-of-10 from the free throw line. Bojanic made 6-of-8 free throws in that time.

The entire second half was a battle as both teams went after each other. JU entered the second half with an eight point lead but saw their lead cut to two, 44-42, but the 14:53 mark. In the next four minutes, JU pushed their lead back to six, 52-46, but TCC came back within two, 56-54, with 8:06 left to play.

JU answered with a 7-2 run in just two minutes for a seven-point lead, 63-56. In that run, Boyd hit a key three-pointer as time ran down on the shot clock to put JU up, 62-56. With 3:32 left in the game, TCC ran off with a 6-0 run in less than a minute to come within two, 67-65, at the 2:46 mark. Judson overcame the run with an 11-2 run to end the game for the win.

In the first half, JU jumped out to an early 10-point lead, 13-3, in the first 4:32 of the game. JU extended their lead to 11, 20-9, with 12:51 left in the half. Answering with their first run of the game, TCC reeled off the next seven points to make it 20-16 and finished the 12-2 run with a three-pointer at the 8:48 mark to make it 22-21 in favor of Judson.

Both teams exchanged layups on their next two possessions and then a Bojanic layup and a Robinson dunk gave JU a five-point lead, 30-25, with 6:03 on the board. TCC answered with a layup but JU outscored TCC, 9-4, in the final 5:29 of the half. In that span, there was two minute where neither team hit a shot with a combined three turnovers and five missed shots.

Overall, JU shot 52% from the floor and made 64% of their free throws while TCC made 45% from the floor and 59% from the line. JU forced 19 turnovers and had 11 steals. They also out rebounded TCC, 32-30.

JU will now host Purdue-North Central in the second round of play of the CCAC on Saturday, February 2nd, at 7:30 p.m.

NOTES: Judson ties the longest win streak in the history of the program (6 games)…The streak was set in the 2005-06 season under Jim Cook…This is the best start under Jim Cook in the CCAC…JU now has sole possession of first place in the CCAC…Joe Gonnam needs just 15 points to reach 1,000 career points…Chris Oates needs 94 points to reach 1,000 career points…Dewayne Robinson has scored 20 or more points in 13 of the 17 games played…Ilija Bojanic has 3rd 20-point game this season…This is the 7th game that JU has shot over 50% in a game…JU scored 78 points on the CCAC’s top defense that only allows 68 ppg.