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Logan men earn win over Wabash Valley; Lady Vols fall

CARTERVILLE - Sophomore point guard David Sloan erupted for 27 points, dished out eight assists and grabbed five rebounds Saturday evening to lead the John A. Logan College men's basketball team to a 98-88 Great Rivers Athletic Conference victory over Wabash Valley.

Sloan was 7-of-13 from the field, including 3-of-5 from beyond the three-point arc and 10-of-12 from the free-throw line.

"I think it's one of the best games David has every played as a point guard," said Vols head coach Kyle Smithpeters. "He basically dictated everything tonight."

Sloan took the praise in stride.

"I felt like this is one of my best games since I've been here," he said. "It helps when defenders back up on me and I can observe the floor. And if they pressure me, I feel I can get around them, which opens up some things for us offensively."

With the win, the Vols improved to 3-0 in the league and are now 8-1 overall after Sunday's 93-77 non-conference win over Moberly (Mo.) in St. Louis.

Wabash Valley, meanwhile, falls to 2-1 in the GRAC after Saturday's loss and is now 5-3 overall. The Warriors were led offensively by Anthony Christian's 17 points. Four other players reached double figures.

"A win's a win. Wabash Valley is a very good basketball team," Smithpeters said. "They had 74 points with three minutes to go. But we're going to sub regardless of who we play. They didn't want to sub. That's fine. That's on us. We got the two wins we wanted this week - we got Shawnee and we got Wabash."

Besides Sloan's big game, Logan's Jayden Scrubb knocked down 18 points with a couple of dunks. He missed only one shot from the field. Jonah Jackson followed with 14 points and Vonnie Patterson contributed 13.

Adding seven points each were Jordan Cousin, Quamain Nelson and Chris Harris.

Logan led 48-41 at the half and never relinquished the lead in the second half.

As a team, the Vols connected on 32-of-60 shots from the field (53 percent); made good on 9-of-22 from long distance (41 percent) and 25-of-34 free tosses (73 percent).

Logan plays two games on the road this week. The Vols are at Three Rivers, Mo. in Poplar Bluff tonight (Tuesday at 7) and will then travel to Southeastern Illinois College at Harrisburg Saturday afternoon.

Scrubb had 26 points in Sunday's win, with Sloan adding 18 points and 13 assists. Jackson added 17 points, including four 3-pointers, and Nelson had 12 points. Patterson had 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Vols, who were 22-of-27 from the foul line.

Logan's defense held the NJCAA Division I scoring leader, Alongo Verge, to 19 points. Verge came in averaging 29.8 points per game.

Also on Saturday, the Logan women's squad fell behind 26-14 after one period and never recovered, losing 104-62 to Wabash Valley.

Lyric Campbell was the lone Vol in double figures with 17. She was 3-of-9 from the field and 11-of-15 from the free-throw line. Anshanique Leavell followed with eight points. Jaelah Crosby and Marion's Nia Marshall tacked on seven each. Marshall and Johnecia Kyles led the team in rebounds with eight each.

Logan converted 21-of-52 shots from the field for the game (40 percent) and only 1-of-11 from beyond the arc (9 percent). Poor free-throw shooting didn't help the cause as the Vols knocked down only 20-of-39 (51 percent).

Five players scored in double figures for Wabash Valley as led by Keya Patton's 20 points.

Logan, now 2-1 in the GRAC and 5-4 overall, will play the 5 p.m. game Tuesday at Three Rivers and then return to league action at 1 p.m. Saturday at Southeastern Illinois.

Jordan Cousin
Chris Harris
Kyle Smithpeters
Mark Lancaster
Jayden Scrubb