Governors State opened its eight season of varsity basketball with an 64-90 lost to a very good IU- Kokomo squad at the sixth Annual Jaguars Tip-Off Classic Friday evening. The Jaguars have won four straight first-round games at their season-opening tournament but fell short tonight.
GSU were down by 15 points at the half to the Cougars who received second-place votes in the River States Conference Preseason Polls. The Cougars made another run to increase the lead in the second-half. The Cougars held off the Jaguars to remain unbeaten against GSU having a record of 2-0.
The Jaguars were led by freshmen Nick Mikash with 13 points. Mikash shot 50 percent from the field (4-8) and converted 50 percent of his shots from behind the arc (2-4). Tai Walter-Whitaker scored 10 points and brought down four rebounds. Kyle Jackson added eight points.
IU Kokomo (1-0) was led by senior forward Zach Rinehart who ended the night with a double-doube of 16 points and 10 rebounds.
GSU Head Coach Tony Bates said, "the first game of the year is always challenging. We had some good spurts but will be looking for a more consistent effort against William Penn tomorrow."
Governors State (0-1) sets to bounce back tomorrow afternoon when it meets seventh ranked William Penn at 2 p.m. Saturday. William Penn University defeated Great Lakes Christian, 107-80, to open the Classic.
Original source can be found here.
Alerts Sign-up