Sergio Kerusch’s recorded yet another double-double with a career-high 26 points to go along with 12 rebounds to help Western to the program’s 1,600th victory with a 79-66 victory against Florida International tonight in Diddle Arena.
This victory is somewhat redeeming for the Toppers, who dropped an 81-79 decision to FIU on Jan. 8.
“We wanted to build a lead,” head coach Ken McDonald said. “We talked a lot about this game the first time around. We wanted to represent ourselves better in this game and I think the guys were fired up.”
After an gaining an early lead, the Toppers (19-8, 13-3 Sun
Belt Conference East Division) went to its bench to combat the Golden Panther (11-18, 6-10 Sun Belt East) post duo of Russell Hicks and Freddy Asprilla, with every forward seeing time in the first half. The plan worked, with FIU being forced to rely on its outside shooting which was cold for a majority of the game.
The Golden Panthers shot 22.2 percent from the field in the first half (6-for-27), including eight percent from three (1-for-12).
A tip-in at the buzzer by sophomore forward Kerusch gave the Toppers a 36-18 lead at halftime.
Western was able to maintain its double-digit lead in the second half despite poor offensive nights from some of their bigger contributors.
Senior guard Orlando Mendez-Valdez was held to nine points on 3-for-12 shooting and leading scorer junior guard A.J. Slaughter went 3-for-10 from the field on his way to 11 points.
“It was a game that I felt we needed, and I’m glad that we got it,” Kerusch said. “We lost to them the first time in Miami, but we wanted to come out and win because of that and to help us keep our lead at No. 1 (in the East Division standing.)”
Western got its lead to as much as 24 early in the second half, but a late charge by FIU carved into the Western lead, getting it to as little as nine points. Free throws from Kerusch and Mendez-Valdez locked up the victory.
Sophomore forward Steffphon Pettigrew scored 17 points in the victory. Freddy Asprilla paced the Golden Panthers with 21 points and a game-high 15 rebounds.
For the game, Western shot 43.1 percent (25-for-58), and held FIU to 38.1 percent (24-for-63).
A majority of the business happened in the post, where FIU held a 34-28 edge in points in the paint for the game.
With the victory, Western moves a full-game ahead of Troy into sole possession of first place in the East Division. Both teams have two games remaining on their regular season schedules.
The Toppers close out its home schedule for the season 7 p.m. Thursday night against Florida Atlantic.
Look for more coverage of tonight’s game, the race to the East Division title and the road to the Sun Belt Conference tournament in Tuesday’s Herald and on the Herald Sports Blog, http://chhtoppertalk.wordpress.com/.
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