Kentucky Wesleyan College Athletics

Box Score

The seventh-ranked Kentucky Wesleyan men's college basketball team found its legs in the second half Saturday against Wisconsin-Parkside.

The Panthers got 21 points from Brandon Johnson, and Marseilles Stewart provided a big spark as KWC held off a late charge by the Rangers and won 72-65 in a Great Lakes Valley Conference contest at the Sportscenter.

The victory puts the Panthers back in the win column heading into a five-day break.

“We got separation and we just relaxed and kind of let them back in,” KWC coach Todd Lee said. “The things that we were doing to get the lead, we kind of backed off for a little bit, we can't afford to do that. But then Brandon made some plays down and we did hang in there.”

The Panthers (19-4, 11-4 GLVC) got off to a slow start, but kept Parkside (8-15, 1-14) within range and made their move late in the first half.

A 3-pointer by Kreig Oxley out of the left corner against a zone gave KWC its first lead of the game, 28-25, with 2:12 to go before halftime.

The Panthers' defense forced two Parkside turnovers inside the last two minutes, and held the Rangers to a free throw, taking a 32-26 lead at the break.

In the second half, Stewart got the Panthers rolling, scoring two straight baskets in the post to start a 5-0 KWC run.

Defensively, KWC also double-teamed the Rangers' Ziggy Raiuka, who had 10 points in the first half. He finished with 12.

“We wanted to go to Marseilles on the block,” Lee said. “He was playing with great energy, and he got us some baskets, which was good.

“We also double-teamed their big kid, Ziggy. I thought we did a better job defensively against their post play.”

KWC held a 13-point lead with 5:28 to go after Oxley hit a bucket. That made it 58-45, but Parkside then went on a 14-4 run.

Ryan Callozzo and Jeremy Saffold hit 3-pointers, and guard Leneal Harris scored, was fouled, and hit the free throw on two occasions to pull Parkside within 3, 62-59.

Johnson then hit two free throws to give KWC some breathing room and Anthony Young scored on a Marseilles assist.

The Panthers closed out the win as Oxley and Johnson hit a pair of free throws each, and Johnson finished the scoring on a dunk set up by a long outlet pass.

KWC was leg-weary coming into the game after falling to Lewis on Thursday night, Johnson said, and missed some easy shot attempts in the first half.

Harris led Parkside with 19 points, going 3-for-6 from 3-point range. Saffold finished with 10 and Kevn Senechalle had seven rebounds.

Stewart and Young finished with 13 points, and Cornbread Walker scored 11.

The Panthers won the battle on the boards, 43-35. Stewart led the way with 11 rebounds.

KWC will get back to work on Monday as it prepares for the final three-game stretch of the regular season.

The Panthers are back in action against North Kentucky on Thursday night at the Sportscenter.

“We need a little bit of time,” Lee said. “We got a big stretch coming up with Bellarmine, Northern and Southern (Indiana).”

KWC (19-4, 11-4 GLVC) host Northern Kentucky on Thursday at 7:30 p.m. CT.