Ancilla wins again to remain undefeated
PLYMOUTH, IN – The No. 9 Olive-Harvey Panthers fell to the No. 5 Chargers in an exciting and close match-up on Saturday 71-62 – their lowest-scoring outing of the year.
It was a defensive show, with Ancilla winning the rebounding battle over the Panthers with 45 rebounds to 33. The Ancilla men’s team remains undefeated at 9-0.
Sophomore Jair Rodgers (South Bend, IN) led the team in scoring with 19 points. Freshman Ty’Sean Sheppard (South Bend), contributed 15. Tyler Chisom (Fr., Chicago, IL) and Erick Shepherd (Fr., Indianapolis) both scored 13 points, with Shepherd grabbing 9 rebounds and Chisom 7.
At the half, the score reflected the Panthers in the lead, 30-26. The Chargers had trouble shooting to start, only hitting 11 of 31 field goals in the first half.
“We struggled to get shots to fall in the 1st half and missed a lot of shots that we typically hit,” says Ancilla Head Coach Aaron Butcher. “Olive-Harvey does a great job of speeding you up and making you uncomfortable. We didn’t handle that as well as we needed in the 1st half. We were able to handle their pressure a little better in the 2nd half and combined getting consecutive stops to getting some shots to fall.”
The Chargers came out motivated for the second half, and outscored the Panthers 45-32. Ancilla took advantage of the free-throw opportunities, only missing one of 13 in the last half.
MCCAA Conference games will begin for Ancilla on January 4th against Muskegon Community College, who currently stands at 3-6. Game begins at7:30PM at LifePlex.
