Winning streak snapped in Pepsi Challenge
Davenport, IA- The St. Ambrose Fighting Bees had their four game winning streak
snapped as they lost both games of the Pepsi Challenge. St. Ambrose was dropped
on back-to-back nights, losing to Illinois-Springfield 94-80 and to St. Xavier
92-75.
On Friday, the Bees hung with Illinois-Springfield for most of the first half.
Ahead by two points with 7:05 to play, Illinois-Springfield switched to a full
court trapping defense. Caught off guard, the Bees turned the ball over several
times and only managed to score five points in the last seven minutes of the
half. Illinois Springfield grew their lead to 11 points and took a 43-32 lead
into the halftime break.
Determined to get back into the game, the Bees went on an 18-10 run to open the
half. Just as the Bees crept to within three points off a Laffayette Gray
jumper, Illinois-Springfield answered with a Matt Reynolds three pointer.
The Bees would not get any closer as Reynolds' three pointer daggered the Bees
spirits. St. Ambrose did not come within five points the rest of the game and
Illinois-Springfield finished the game with a barrage of free throws when the
Bees were forced to foul.
Illinois-Springfield knocked down 20-27 free throws and hit 34-68 field goals
for the game. Coming off the bench, Jeremy Winters hit 9-10 shots from the field
and finished with 19 points. Kelvin Johnson added 17 on 6-11 shooting.
For the Bees, Brett Cole led the way with 18 points, knocking down two three
pointers and grabbing seven rebounds. Adam had 14 points and Alex Burkle and
Reggie Shipp scored 12 and 11 respectively.
On Saturday, the Bees faced a 6-2 St. Xavier team that was upset by Ashford
University the night before.
The Cougars put on a shooting display as they hit 14-27 shots from beyond the
arc. Point guard Alok Aiyar did most of the damage, hitting 4-5 from three and
8-11 from the field to finish with 24 points.
Once again, the Bees played well for most of the first half and struggled down
the stretch. A Josh Binder lay-up cut the Cougar lead to three at 25-22 with
9:04 remaining, but the Bees could not keep pace the final nine minutes and fell
behind 43-34 at the half.
St. Ambrose made more free throws than the Cougars attempted in the first half
by hitting 12-18 compared to the Cougars 4-4, but St. Xavier scored six more
baskets than the Bees.
In the second half, the Cougars utilized a 1-3-1 trap and forced several
Fighting Bee turnovers. While the Bees only committed two more turnover than the
Cougars, St. Xavier capitalized on the Bees miscues by outscoring them 38-19 on
points off turnovers.
In the final minutes, the Bees were forced to foul and St. Xavier hit 6 of 7
free throws to seal the win.
Alex Burkle led the Bees with 20 points, hitting 6-11 from the field and 7-10
from the line. Josh Binder added 15 points on 5-6 shooting and made all four of
his free throw attempts. Adam Fahrenkrog nearly had another double double. He
finished with 13 points and nine rebounds.
With the losses, the Bees fall to 4-5 on the season. They will take on
cross-river rival Augustana College on December 5th.
Box Score 1
Box Score 2
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