Highlights

Campus News

Wildcat Weekly Minute for Nov. 17, 2011

A look at what's happening on campus this week.

Faith

Cleansed through the Cross

Dr. Quarles speaks on the efficacy of Christ's sacrifice at weekly chapel

Sports

LC hoops teams wrap up homestand with pair of wins

Off to Ozarks, UT-Dallas next

Organizations

LC media student give to Toys for Tots

More than 100 toys will help local charity

Campus Life

February is Heart Health Awareness Month

Stay healthy and 'God Red'

Culture

All the Shakespeare you could laugh at… and more!

tlc's adaptation of 'Shakespeare Abridged' pulls out all the stops

Special Coverage

LC brings another successful ‘Follow the Star’

'Christmas on the Hill' and 'Gala' add to festive weekend

LC Men fall to Howard Payne

by Al Quartemont

End 2009 with two disappointing losses

It wasn't hard to tell from coach Gene Rushing's body language how disappointed he was in the way his Louisiana College basketball team ended the 2009 portion of its schedule.

With a 73-70 loss to Howard Payne Saturday, the Wildcats had dropped their second straight game to an opponent, which on paper at least, they figured to beat. The Cats lost Thursday to a Sul Ross team that had won only one game all year. On Saturday, the Yellow Jackets came into the game with a 1-6 record. But after back-to-back games with sporadic shooting, Rushing was left to wonder what suddenly has gone wrong.

"It's just been a struggle shooting the basketball," Rushing said. "And when you struggle shooting the basketball, then you struggle in other areas as well."

Nowhere was that struggle as evident Saturday as it was at the free throw line. LC shot just 50-percent, hitting only 10 of the 20 shots they took from the line. And those missed free throws loomed large when the Wildcats mounted a furious rally in the game's final 5 minutes as they tried to turn what was consistently at 10-point deficit into a come-from-behind win.

Jarrod Jackson, who made only 1 of 5 shots in the first half, got hot in the 2nd half, scoring 23 of his game-high 26 points. One of Jackson's 4 3-point shots brought the Cats to within 1, 68-67 with 1:12 left to play. Later, with LC down 72-67, Jackson would hit another 3 to bring LC within 1.

With 13 second left, Howard Payne's Keith Perry missed the 2nd of two free throws. LC had the chance to tie, but 3-point attempts by Jackson and Jelani Mitchell would not go down - Mitchell's shot rimmed in and out and fell to the ground as LC suffered what proved to be a heart-breaking and frustrating loss.

"We missed enough free throws to win the game," Rushing said. "That really came back to bite us.

With the loss, LC fell to 4-4 on the season, 3-2 in ASC play. The Wildcats will not return to action until Jan. 4, 2010, when the Cats host St. Thomas, an NAIA school, at 7 p.m.

"We just have to find a way to finish games," Rushing said. "We gotta finish them."

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