Avila Shuts Down York for First Conference Victory

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Avila men's basketball put the clamps on York in the first half and built up a lead as large as 17 points in the second, leading the Eagles (2-4, 1-3 KCAC) to a 66-57 victory over the Panthers (3-6, 1-3 KCAC) on Saturday afternoon in Mabee Fieldhouse, Avila's first win in conference play so far this season.

With a strong crowd on hand on Alumni Day on the final weekend before Finals Week at Avila, AU MBB put together an impressive team defensive performance, especially in the first half, against the Panthers, which have perennially been a KCAC Tournament qualifier over the last half decade. The Panthers came into the game averaging 77 points per game over their first eight countable contests, and Avila held them to exactly 20 points below that average, including a dismal 18 points over the first 20 minutes of play.

York got off the mat in the second half and actually outscored Avila by five points over the final 20 minutes, but the 17-point lead the Eagles built up with about 12 minutes left in regulation was far too large for the Panthers to overcome, leading Avila men's basketball to their first KCAC victory under head coach Tyler Bredehoeft, and a doubleheader sweep for the Avila basketball teams against the KCAC school from Nebraska.

There was a little bit of back and forth over the first few minutes in the game, but once James Ross III sank a couple of clutch three-pointer with the shot clock buzzer sounding, giving the Eagles a 10-3 lead just over five minutes into the game, York never tied the game again and Avila never looked back.

Ross nailed his fourth three of the first half off an assist from Josh Kilpatrick halfway through the period to push Avila's lead out to double digits, 20-10, for the first time. After Much Biel scored to keep York within eight with eight minutes left, the Eagles went into lockdown mode: Avila limited York to just four points over the final eight minutes of the first half to take a 32-18 edge into the locker room.

York shot just 29% from the floor and didn't make a single three-pointer (0-for-8) in the first half while Avila shot 43% from both ranges and had six assists and 12 made field goals. The Panthers flipped the script somewhat in the second half and were the hotter shooting team over the back half of the game, but it was far too little too late for the visitors.

York started off strong to begin the second half and cut the 14-point deficit down to eight in less than two minutes, but the Eagles stamped out those flames with back-to-back threes from Matthew Boldt and Jordan Majeed to go right back up by 14. That lead later swelled to 15 off buckets from George Williams and Desmond Combs, and finally ballooned out to 17 points, 55-38, after a deep ball from Jared Larson with 12:14 to go.

A Combs putback that kept the Eagles in front by 15 with five minutes to go proved to be the first real nail in the Panthers' coffin. Despite a poor offensive day to that point, York never quit, and even pulled back to within as close as 61-55 with 1:40 on the clock, but Majeed sank five important free throws down the stretch while the Panthers tried to play the catch-up foul game to no avail: Avila held on to win 66-57.

Jaden Henderson was by far York's most effective scoring option on the day, scoring a game-high 20 points on 19 field goal attempts, along with nine rebounds. Avila limited Biel to just six points on 3-of-10 shooting, though he did contribute seven boards and five blocks. Majeed led the Eagles in scoring for the first time with 15 points while Ross had 14; Boldt and Jehoiada Goins each scored eight points and Goins led all players with 10 boards.

Up next, Avila men's basketball will make the trip over to Springfield to face the KCAC's newest member, Evangel, for the first time this year. The two former HAAC foes will face off on Wednesday, December 6, with the women kicking off the doubleheader at 5:30 and the men to follow at 7:30; as always, you can watch all the action live and for free on the KCAC Network.