02-17-14
BY JACK BULLOCK
OLNEY – The Olney East Richland Tigers, like most quality basketball programs, are very tough to beat at home.

Their opponent on Monday night did nearly everything they could to win the make up contest from a postponement on Friday night.

The Newton Eagles shot the ball well and defended equally as proficient.

However a 2:28 stretch to end the third quarter spelled doom for the visitors.

Olney’s Chance Madden, who led all scorers with 20-points, scored 10 consecutive points in that stretch turning a two-point deficit into an eight-point spread heading into the fourth quarter

The 5-foot-11 senior hit a pair of 3-pointers in the scoring spree and his offensive rebound and stick back just before the third quarter horn gave Olney a 44-36 lead.

Coach Rob Flanagan’s Olney club committed just three turnovers and defensively didn’t allow Newton to shoot a free throw in the entire game in a 54-44 win.

Olney can wrap up their first ever Little Illini Conference regular season title with a win over Lawrenceville this week.

Coach Flanagan’s squad improved to 17-7 overall and 9-1 in conference play.

Evan Eagleson, a 6-foot-3 senior forward, added 12-points on the night for Olney while teammate Alec St. Pierre added 10.

The Tigers, who at one time during the season stood 6-6, have won 11-of-12 games.

“We have been good over the years with that (not turning the ball over) and we get on our guys in practice about taking care of the ball. Taking care of the basketball and not having defensive mistakes is something that we have worked on for 16-years here,” said Coach Flanagan. “The kids in our program know that there are going to be certain expectations. Playing good defense and not turning the ball over are part of the expectations of playing here. There is some tradition here of doing that.”

As for Newton and head coach Doug Mammoser, the outcome could have been much different had a few things gone the Eagles way.

Newton shot the ball really well, hitting 19-of-33 shots overall (57.5 percent) but in a game that had very few possessions; the Eagles committed nine costly turnovers.

Not being able to get to the foul line was also an issue, as Newton didn’t shoot a single free throw in the 32 minutes.

In the meantime, Olney connected on 10-of-15 from the line, which provided the 10-point margin of victory.

“We didn’t do a very good job finishing possessions. We didn’t do a good job rebounding and they (Olney) had a put back at the end of the third quarter that was huge,” said Coach Mammoser. “Olney is not going to turn the ball over so you can’t give them four or five more possessions because of not rebounding defensively.”

Newton is now 21-5 on the season and 8-2 in the league despite 15-points from senior Caleb Chesnut who collected his points by making five 3-pointers.

Six-foot-three senior Lucas Stone added 12-points as did Lucas Huston.

Olney’s Tate Nohren, a 6-foot-2 junior, added eight points for the Tigers, including an early 3-pointer in the first quarter.

In fact Nohren scored all eight of his points in the opening frame and his tip in on his own missed shot from the baseline gave Olney a 13-7 lead with 4:05 left.

St. Pierre and Ryan Eagleson hit 3-pointers in the quarter, with Olney leading 17-12 at the end.

Chesnut tried to keep the Eagles close as he hit a pair of treys in the first quarter.

His third long range bomb came in the second quarter as Newton got back even with the hosts at intermission.

The 20-footer from the left corner gave the Eagles their first lead at 20-19 with 5:59 left before halftime.

Three different times in the second quarter the game was tied and when Madden hit a pair of free throws with :38.2 left, the two teams were deadlocked at 24-all at the break.

The Eagles were on the verge of taking home a win with a good beginning of the third quarter.

Newton scored six points in the early going with buckets by Huston, Chesnut and Stone in succession for a 31-27 lead with 5:55 left.

Stone drove the baseline for a reverse lay in to give the Eagles their final lead at 36-34 with 3:05 remaining.

At this point Madden went on his scoring spree.

He nailed a 3-pointer from the left wing to get the run going.

Madden then took a nice pass from Evan Eagleson for a back door lay in to push the lead to 39-36 which forced a Newton timeout.

A 3-pointer from the top of the circle and the rebound basket finished the run and the quarter with the Tigers up eight.

Newton closed the gap with four-consecutive points from Stone and Huston but Evan Eagleson nailed a back-breaking 3-pointer at the end of a long offensive possession and the Tigers closed out the game with Madden hitting 5-of-6 from the foul line to secure the win, and likely, a conference championship.

Olney finished the night hitting 18-of-39 from the floor (46.1 percent) and 8-of-18 from beyond the arc.

“Both teams played well tonight and I thought we were pretty efficient. I think Doug (Mammoser) has done a great job with this team this year,” added Coach Flanagan. “They are a tough scout and Stone is a magnificent player for them. It was tough to prepare for them.”

Newton held a slight rebounding edge 17-15 in a game that didn’t produce many missed shots for rebounding chances. But the Tigers grabbed seven offensive rebounds and produced points and extended possessions, much to dismay of Coach Mammoser.

“For us to be with Olney we have to be within one or two possessions. If they get three or four possessions ahead it is very tough to comeback on these guys when you can’t overpower them with your quickness,” said Coach Mammoser. “We got to within two possessions late and I felt good about our chances but we gave them too many second chances and we didn’t get to the free throw line.”