Payne's 25 Points Leads Baldwin-Wallace Men to a 92-82 Win at Wilmington

BEREA, OHIO – Freshman forward Kyle Payne (Brunswick) scored 25 points as the Baldwin-Wallace College men's basketball team defeated Ohio Athletic Conference rival Wilmington College, 92-82, today (Saturday, December 11, 2010) in the Fred Raizk Arena in Wilmington.  In the game, the two teams combined for 60 fouls and connected on 74-of-83 free throws for 89.1 percent.

In addition to Payne for B-W, now 3-4 overall and 2-1 in the OAC, senior guard Zane Meeder (Erie, Pa./ Fairview) and freshman guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/ Parma Heights Holy Name) each scored 13 points and junior All-OAC guard Promis Cabbil (Elyria/ Senior) and sophomore guard Ben Umbel (Poland/ Seminary) each had 10 markers. The Yellow Jackets connected on 39-of-46 free throws for 85%.  For Wilmington, now 3-4 overall and 1-2 in the OAC, junior forward Tyler White scored 18 points, junior guard Antonio Bowman had 16, freshman forward Malcom Heard II had 12 and sophomore guard Taylor Wellman had 10. The Quakers made 35-of-37 free throws for 94.6%.

In the first half alone there were 34 fouls called, 46 foul shots, 40 made foul shots, 12 ties and three lead changes.  After three ties, B-W gained a 10-6 lead at the 13:58 mark when freshman center Aaron Selmek (Delaware/ Columbus St. Francis deSales) made a pair of foul shots.  After Wilmington tied the game at 10-10 and 12-12, the Yellow Jackets outscored the Quakers 10-3 to build their largest lead of the first stanza at 22-15 with 10:07 left when Meeder made a pair of foul shots.

Wilmington then came back with an 8-1 run to tie the game again at 23-23 with 8:42 left when Bowman made two foul shots. After the eighth tie, B-W gained a three-point lead at 33-30 with 4:09 left when sophomore guard Ben Umbel (Poland/ Seminary) scored on a layup. Undaunted, Wilmington's White scored, was fouled and made the free throw at the 3:32 mark for a 33-33 tie. Then, after ties at 35-35 and 38-38, the Yellow Jackets scored the final four points of the first half, including a layup by Meeder with three seconds left for a 42-38 lead at the intermission.

In the second half, B-W regained its seven-point lead at 45-38 when freshman guard Kevin Krakowiak (Valley City/ Parma Heights Holy Name) made a long three-pointer with 19:18 left. After Wilmington closed to within 47-45, B-W scored five straight points at regained its seven-point advantage at 52-45 when Meeder stole the ball and made a layup with 16:40 remaining.

The Quakers then went on a 6-0 run to pull to within one point at 52-51 with 15:05 left when White made a jump shot.  After B-W rebuilt its lead to four points at 57-53, Wilmington gained its first lead of the second stanza at 58-57 when sophomore guard Taylor Wellman canned a three-pointer.  A pair of lead changes followed before B-W regained the lead at 62-60 with 9:16 left when freshman guard Grant Fairhurst (Ashland/ Senior) canned the first of three straight treys. The lead grew to four points at 68-64 when Fairhurst made his final three with 7:27 left.

After Wilmington closed to one point at 70-69, B-W went on a 7-2 run to build a six-point advantage at 77-71 when Payne scored, was fouled and made a foul shot with 4:11 left. Following a pair of Wellman foul shots, Payne helped B-W tied its largest lead of seven points at 80-73 when he canned a triple at the 3:31 mark.

Undaunted, Wilmington went on a 5-0 run to bring the score to 80-78 with 2:32 left when Heard scored.  A pair of Meeder foul shots at 2:03 gave B-W an 82-78 lead, but Wilmington's Bowman countered with a pair at 1:39 to make the score 82-80. Cabbil then gave B-W back its four-point lead at 84-80 with two foul shots at 1:23 and Krakowiak made it six at 86-80 with 1:05 left with a layup.

Wilmington came right back with a Heard layup at 48 seconds to make the score 86-82. Meeder pushed the lead to six at the 41-second mark when he made a pair of free throws. Then Krakowiak made four-of-four more at the line to seal the deal and give B-W its largest lead of the game at the end.

The Yellow Jackets are back in action on Wednesday, Dec. 15 when they travel to Ada, Ohio to play Ohio Northern University in an OAC game at the ONU Sports Center 7:30 p.m. Fans can listen to all of the action on either campus radio station WBWC, 88.3 FM, or via the WBWC Internet web site at www.wbwc.com.  The men are back at home on Saturday, Dec. 18 when they host OAC rival Muskingum University in the Rudolph Ursprung Gymnasium at 3:00 p.m.

In addition, two Yellow Jacket women's and men's basketball doubleheaders will be telecast on SportsTime Ohio this winter. The games are the January 29, 2011 twinbill versus Wilmington College and the Third Annual "Take a Kid to the Game" Day doubleheader versus Ohio Northern University on February 19, 2011.

FOR MORE B-W SPORTS INFORMATION, please contact Sports Information Director Kevin Ruple by telephone at 440-826-2327 and e-mail at kruple@bw.edu or Assistant SID Jeff Miller by phone at 440-826-2780 and e-mail at jefmille@bw.edu. Fans can access the latest B-W athletics information at www.bw.edu/athletics and we invite you to join us on Twitter at http://twitter.com/bwathletics.