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SNOW SAGA
Panther fans ring in Christmas cheer with big win over U of Iowa
By Times Staff
12/12/2009 12:00:00 AM
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Clockwise from top: Cedar Falls perked back to life on Friday after a record blizzard paralyzed the city on Tuesday and Wednesday. The city resumed garbage collection on the Hill Friday morning.
On Dec. 7, the country marked the 68th anniversary of the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor. The blue star on the monument of the Statue of Liberty replica in Veterans Park keeps the memory of soldiers' sacrifice alive.
UNI cancelled evening classes on Tuesday and all classes on Wednesday, as did area schools, due to the blizzard conditions, above.
Panther fans headed to the Dome despite the storm to root on the men's basketball team as they played rival Iowa Hawkeyes. Some fans donned Santa's hats to cheer on their winning team. From left, Abbey Barry, Hannah Vos, Kylie Gottschalk, Aleah Lentsch, Sidney Bodie, Kate Stermer, Kinsey O'Hern and Kelsey Hold.
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BY ERIC VANSICKLE
The weather outside the MacLeod Center Tuesday night was frightful, but the men’s basketball game inside was so delightful for those wearing the purple and gold.
While a blizzard raged across the state, Northern Iowa hosted in-state rival Iowa in front of 6,480 hearty souls. Junior guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe led the Panthers with 20 points in a 67-50 victory over the Hawkeyes, the largest victory by UNI in the intrastate series.
UNI head coach Ben Jacobson liked the way the Panthers defended the Hawkeye ball handlers. UNI forced 16 Iowa turnovers, leading to 31 points.
UNI forced 16 Iowa turnovers, leading to 31 points.
The Hawkeyes had pulled to within six points with 16 minutes left to play on a Matt Gatens jump shot. Ahelegbe then hit a pair of free throws and sparked a 9-0 run over the next 2:46, with a pair of jumpers and an assist on a Kerwin Dunham three-pointer.
“Once [Ahelegbe] made a jumper or two in the second half, you can tell he wanted the basketball,” Jacobson said. “When Marc Sonnen went into the game, Kwadzo moved himself to the off guard position and called his own number. He’s got a real good understanding of our offense. He’s got a good feel for who’s got it going.”
Gatens tried to lead the Hawks back into it. He had two treys as part of an 11-3 run to pull within 51-43.
But after Andrew Brommer picked up his fourth foul, Jordan Eglseder hit a pair of free throws, and Ahelegbe connected on back-to-back jumpers to spur a 16-7 run to close the game.
UNI earned their lead with a 22-1 run in a 9:03 span.
“That stretch [between the first and second media time outs] was [done by] the guys from the bench,” Jacobson said. “That group did it against DePaul [in the Paradise Jam]. They’ve had some other stretches where they’ve played well.”
The Panther bench outscored the Hawkeye reserves, 15-4.
Eglseder and Adam Koch notched 10 points each for the Panthers in the game. Meanwhile, Gatens led the Hawks with 18 points, while Anthony Tucker and Cully Payne had nine each.
The Hawkeyes were playing without head coach Todd Lickliter, who underwent surgery last weekend to fix a torn carotid artery.
GAME STATS:
UNI 67, Iowa 50
Iowa 24 26 - 50
UNI 35 32 - 67
Iowa – Matt Gatens 7-11 0-2 18, Anthony Tucker 4-9 0-0 9, Cully Payne 2-8 3-6 9, Eric May 3-8 0-0 8, Aaron Fuller 2-4 0-0 4, Jarryd Cole 1-3 0-0 2, Devan Bawinkel 0-2 0-0 0, Brennan Cougill 0-1 0-0 0, Andrew c 0-0 0-0 0, total 19-46 3-8 50.
UNI – Kwadzo Ahelegbe 8-12 3-5 20, Adam Koch 4-9 2-7 10, Jordan Eglseder 4-7 2-2 10, Ali Farokhmanesh 2-5 0-0 6, Johnny Moran 2-4 0-0 6, Kerwin Dunham 2-2 0-0 5, Marc Sonnen 2-2 0-0 5, Anthony James 2-5 0-0 4, Jake Koch 0-2 1-2 1, Lucas O’Rear 0-1 0-0 0, Austin Pehl 0-0 0-0 0, Adam Rodenberg 0-0 0-0 0, total 26-49 8-16 67.
3-pointers – Iowa 9-26 (Gatens 4-6, Payne 2-6, May 2-6, Tucker 1-6, Bawinkel 0-2); UNI 7-16 (Farokhmanesh 2-4, Moran 2-4, Ahelegbe 1-2, Dunham 1-1, Sonnen 1-1, A. Koch 0-2, J. Koch 0-2).; Technical fouls – O’Rear; Fouled out – none.
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