Isaac's career night propels wounded Wolves (with VIDEO)
Isaac's career night propels wounded Wolves (with VIDEO)
RICHMOND, Ind. - The Red Wolves left the gym hobbling but happy.
Junior guard Marcus Isaac scored a career-high 34 points as an injury-depleted Indiana University East men's basketball team beat Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent Brescia University 87-75 on Feb. 2 at the Richmond High School Tiernan Center.
NAIA Division II No. 12 IU East (21-5, 8-1 KIAC) was without its No. 2 scorer, and another regular went down with a foot injury late in the second half, but the Red Wolves pulled out the win to stay in a virtual tie atop the KIAC standings.
Brescia fell to 12-12 overall and 5-4 in the KIAC.
Isaac (Indianapolis, Ind./Purdue North Central) promised a big night in the absence of IU East No. 2 scorer Matt Trimnell (foot injury), and he delivered.
"I was just trying to be aggressive. That was the big thing for me tonight," said Isaac, who produced his first 30-point game. "I've got to be aggressive because that opens things up not just for me, but for everyone."
Isaac scored 21 of his points in the first half to stake the Red Wolves to a 45-32 lead at the break.
"The first half was one of the best halves we've played all year with the effort, the talking (on defense) and holding them to one-and-done," said IU East coach Mark Hester.
Isaac converted a timely four-point play with 3:20 remaining to put IU East ahead by 11, and the Red Wolves held on to improve to 7-0 at home this season.
"Marcus stepped up big," said IU East coach Mark Hester. "It's nice to have multiple guys like that so when someone goes down, someone else steps up."
Freshman forward Huston Clark (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo High School) added 22 points and six steals.
Chris Way led Brescia with 28 points.
IU East faces Kentucky Intercollegiate Athletic Conference opponent Alice Lloyd College on Feb. 4 at 2 p.m. at Midway College.
Click here for the IU East-Brescia box score.