(Mesa, AZ) The Park University Gilbert men’s and women’s basketball teams both won handily over Embry Riddle this evening at Legacy Sports Park with the women earning a 10-point victory 59-49 and the men winning by 20, 83-63. The women even its record at 3-3 and move to 2-0 in conference play, while the men jump to 5-4 overall and 2-1 in Cal Pac play.
Women’s Basketball – Park Gilbert 59, Embry Riddle 49
Despite a poor shooting performance, the Buccaneers won handily on the backs of their defense in this game.
Park Gilbert shot 36 percent from the floor and 28 percent from three-point range and 57 percent from the line and still won despite being outscored in the fourth quarter by 12. The Bucs defense held Embry Riddle to 31 percent shooting for the game, 19 percent from range and the Eagles were able to make a game of it because of their work at the free throw line where they were 14-19 (74 percent).
On the defensive end, Park Gilbert was able to force 18 turnovers and turn those into 25 points.
The Buccaneers were able to build a 16-point lead heading into halftime as they held the Eagles to only 17 first half points.
They were able to extend the lead to 22 after the third quarter. But a sloppy fourth quarter allowed the Eagles to cut the lead down to 10 for a final score which did not showcase how dominant a performance this was on the part of the Buccaneers.
Kayla Schroeder and Jayla Reliford led the team with 13 points each, Madison Chappell and Faith Watkins added nine rebounds to lead the team, while Jazmyne Jenkins and Kae Counce each had 10 points. Watkins also had a school record five blocks which broke the record of four she set a week ago against OUAZ.
Schroeder is now 30 points away from becoming the Buccaneers all-time leading scorer, passing her former teammate Macy Markus.
Men’s Basketball – Park Gilbert 83, Embry Riddle 63
The Buccaneers dominated the stat sheet in the first half and only led by three. But they were able to continue their dominance in the second half and finished with a 20-point win.
The Bucs shot 56 percent for the game and turned the defensive screws on the Eagles to hold them to 37 percent from the floor. The Bucs knocked down nine threes, including five from LC Ballard to shoot 56 percent from beyond the arc. The one critical point you could make on the Bucs shooting was from the free throw line where they only made 16 of 26 attempts (62 percent).
One of the other keys for Park Gilbert’s success this season are the important contributions from its bench. Tonight was no different as the Bucs got 30 points from the bench including 13 from DJ Frye. Dohl Majak added seven points, but provided key rebounds as he led the team with nine boards.
LC Ballard led the way with 20 points and also had five rebounds. Caleb Ivy added 14 points and five boards. Terrance Ward scored nine points and led the team with five assists to go along with five rebounds.
The five wins for the Bucs equals the number of wins the Buccaneers had all last season. This is also the latest in the season the Buc men have had a winning record in its history overall and in conference.
Both teams now hit the road to face La Sierra on Thursday, December 7 in Riverside, Calif. Both teams won at LSU last year and look to complete the sweep again this season. The La Sierra women are 1-4 overall and 1-1 in conference and the LSU men are 1-7 overall, 1-1 in Cal Pac play.
Press Release courtesy of Park University Athletics – Preston English
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