NW Kentucky News

Panthers outlast Timberwolves behind Sisson career high

Facing G-MAC newcomers Northwood in their first conference game of the year, the Kentucky Wesleyan Men's Basketball team used a career high 23 points from senior Ben Sisson to outlast the Timberwolves 75-73 in overtime. 

Wesleyan now moves to 4-3 (1-0 G-MAC) while Northwood drops to 1-7 (1-1 G-MAC). 

After both teams went back-and-forth for the beginning of the opening half, Wesleyan used buckets from six different players to fuel a 15-4 run to give them a 30-16 lead with 4:21 to go in the half. Northwood finished strong, scoring the final six points of the half and KWC took a 34-27 lead into the break.

Ben Sisson and Borja Fernandez scored on back-to-back possessions to extend Wesleyan's lead back to nine early. After an and-1 bucket from Jordan Roland gave Wesleyan a 13 point lead halfway through the half, the Timberwolves started to chip away. They would hit four straight shots to cut the lead down to just three with seven minutes remaining. The teams battled over the final few minutes, and Antonio Thomas sent the game to overtime with a free throw with 12 seconds remaining. 

Down by one with a minute to go in overtime, Ben Sisson hit a free throw and a layup on back-to-back possessions to give Wesleyan a 73-71 advantage. After another Sisson free throw gave Wesleyan a three-point lead, Northwood didn't have many options. They cut it to one with six seconds left, but Antonio Thomas hit a clutch free throw and Northwood missed a fadeaway jumper at the buzzer to seal the win for the Panthers. 

Wesleyan shot 30-65 (46.2%) from the field and just 2-15 (13.3%) from three. The Panthers went the entire second half and overtime period without hitting a three. KWC dominated in the paint, outscoring the Timberwolves 48-24 in that category. 

Ben Sisson led the way with a massive double-double, tallying 23 points and 12 rebounds in the game. Jordan Roland and Markel Aune each added 11. Kennedy Miles dished out two assists while Sisson also led with two steals.

Kentucky Wesleyan will be back at home next Saturday when they host Cedarville at the Owensboro Sportscenter. Tipoff is set for 2:15 p.m. CT.

Original source can be found here.