Vulnerable Cougars are easy Tiger prey

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Friday night Carroll (7-7) suffered its second straight 20-plus point loss at the hands of host Northwestern (8-5) 61-37.

Going into the match-up at Northwestern, Carroll was without the services of head coach Matt Weaver who was serving a one-game suspension, and two players, Eric Miller and Ryan Spesard, were suspended for the first half for their involvement in last Saturday’s four technical game.

With Miller and Spesard on the bench the rest of the Cougars came out to play. Carrolltooka7to1leadwith baskets by Brandon Dillon, Jarin Bush and a trey by Jacob Bush. Northwestern tied the game at 11 and took a 14-11 lead, but an old-fashion three-point play by Jarin Bush knotted the score at 14 after one period. Carroll pushed the lead out to four points at 27-23 late in the half but a trey by the Tigers made it 27- 26 Carroll at half-time.

The second half totally belonged to Northwestern as they came out and were aggressive on both ends of the court. The Tigers used a 13 to 0 run to start the second half to go up 39-27 with 2:48 left in the third quarter. The hosts pushed the lead out to 48-29 after three periods. Carroll was outscored 22 to 2 in the third period and 35-10 in the second half.

The three-point shot again haunted the Cougars. The Tigers were 4 of 6 from behind the arch all in the big third quarter. Carroll was 0 of 8 in the half as they were outscored 24 to 9. Carroll was 3 of 13 from behind the arch and 14 of 32 overall while Northwestern was 8 of 20 from behind the arch and 22 of 42 overall.

Carroll did not have anyone in double figures in the game. Dillon and Jarin Bush had 9 points each and Jacob Bush and Seth Eldridge had 6 points each. The Cougars had 19 turnovers, 11 in the second half. The bigger Cougars were outrebounded 27 to 15.

Next up for Carroll will be road trips to Delphi (10-4) and Clinton Prairie (2-12) Friday and Saturday, respectively. JV drops to 3-10

Carroll (3-10) fell to Northwestern Friday night, 51-32. Logan Jackson’s fielder gave theCougarsa2to0leadto start the game. The host Tigers stormed back with an 11 to 0 run to go up 11-2. Carroll closed the gap to 16-12 with a 10 to 5 run but Northwestern was able to push the lead out to 7 points at 21-14 by half-time. The second half belonged to Northwestern as the Tigers outscored Carroll 30-18 for the win.

Stephen Holford, Lane Pierce, Derik Caldwell and Jackson all led the Cougars with 5 points each.