Panthers outreach, outmuscle Spartans

Daniel Polley (#24) leaps and passes to David Bernard (#31) as Morton College players watch.
Photo by Conor Clarke

James Ayello

Staff Writer
All season, the Achilles' heel for ECC's men’s basketball team has been height, and their final home game against Morton College proved no different as the men fell to the Panthers in a disappointing loss, 71-56.

The Spartans struggled in the early stages, falling behind in part due to the fast tempo, high-pressure defense applied by Morton College (8-4 in Illinois Skyway Conference). Morton’s three quarter court press, interchanging zone and man-to-man defenses stifled ECC’s offensive attack.

Head coach Reed Nosbisch cited the Panther’s athleticism as a key contributor his team’s lack of offensive production.

“I think their athleticism and their length hurt (us), and we struggled against the trap,” Nosbisch said.

Due to their lack of size, the Spartans were not able to take many high percentage shots in the paint and were forced to look elsewhere for scoring. Freshman guard Brett Manning commented on the difficulties of scoring with such a big size differential.

“It was hard to spread the floor because our tallest guy is 6’2 and we have to put him the middle,” said Manning. Nosbisch agreed.

“We have a lack of size,” Nosbisch said. “We have guys that are playing out of position. Nick Nohling and Dave Bernard and those guys are all having to post. I wish we had a 6’6” or 6’7” kid with a little bit of beef. He wouldn’t even have to walk and chew gum; he could just take up space.”

While a menacing defensive presence was lacking, the Spartans managed to somewhat overcome their disadvantage, limiting Morton’s high-powered offense to just 31 points in the first half. By forcing the Panthers to take low-percentage outside shots, ECC was down just two points at halftime.

The story was a bit different in the second half though; Morton’s size and strength began to control the game as the Spartans were outmuscled in the paint.

“We didn’t do that great on defensive rebounding, which was basically [how Morton scored] the bulk of [its] points,” said Manning. The Panthers went on an 11-0 run to begin the second half, extending the lead to 13. The Spartans made a few small runs in hopes of a rally but were never able to bring the game to within striking distance.