by MCAC Player of the Year Contender Jordan Nelson Leads Waldorf to Victory with 27 Points
By Tyler Jones
Web Editor, @TylerJonesLive
It was another Friday night of hoops in Indian Country, as the Haskell Men’s Basketball team battled with Waldorf College at Coffin Sports Complex. It was a pivotal game for both teams as they entered Friday in similar circumstances. Haskell and Waldorf both rolled in with 3-2 records in the MCAC and tied for 2ndplace in the league with two other teams. With similar teams, protecting home-court was vital for Haskell.
In the first half, it was a battle between the modern-day Warriors and Indians. Both teams shot 48% from the field in the first, but it was Haskell who found themselves leading at halftime, 37-34. The battle of the bigs was also key, as Haskell crashed the boards with 19 rebounds, while Waldorf had 15. Both squads leading scorers for the season, led the way in scoring in the 1st. Waldorf’s Jordan Nelson and Haskell’s Randy July accounted for 12 (Nelson) and 10 (July) points apiece.
Trailing by one in the 2nd, Waldorf adjusted to a faster tempo offense, which worked to their advantage. At the 15:24 mark, Waldorf took their first lead of the 2nd half, as Haskell was struggling to match Waldorf’s tempo. With the halftime adjustment of tempo, Waldorf led most of the 2nd half. The tempo also forced Haskell to give up 13 turnovers in the 2nd.
While the game was still in reach for Haskell, Waldorf took a timeout up by three with under 1:30 to go. Out of the timeout, Waldorf’s Erik Brewer hit a big three to put Waldorf up 77-71. Haskell answered with hoop-and-horn from Wilber Everett, but could not complete the three-point play. This would put Haskell behind by four, with 35.5 seconds to go.
As time winded down, Duelle Gore found himself scoring big-time buckets late, but Waldorf was too solid at the free throw line to allow a Haskell comeback. Waldorf went on to take the win at Haskell, by a final score of 81-77.
The stars finished strong for Waldorf and Haskell. Waldorf’s Jordan Nelson ended the night with 27 points and eight rebounds. Haskell Head Coach Chad Kills Crow after the game spoke highly of Nelson. Kills Crow said, “Before tonight I was very high on Jordan Nelson. He will get my vote for conference player of the year.” Randy July led Haskell in scoring, but his offense was not the problem. July said, “We could have done more defensively. We should have gotten more guys involved.”
In a game where the statistics were very similar between the two sides, one stat stood out. Haskell may have scored 77 points, but shot 7/27 from three-point range. Coach Kills Crow said in the postgame, “We knew this game would come down to the little things. It was going to be close no matter what.”
After the win, Waldorf moves ahead to 8-12 and will look to make it two straight as they head to Bartelsville, Oklahoma on Saturday to take on Oklahoma Wesleyan.
Haskell drops to 5-17 on the year and will look to rebound against 6thranked Believue at 5pm CT on Saturday.
