Shawnee Knocks Off Forest Park 75-64

The Saints traveled to the gateway city to face a dangerous Forest Park team on Saturday afternoon. Shawnee was looking to bounce back after a disappointing performance vs. John A. Logan on Tuesday night and they did. The Saints jumped on the Highlanders early and built a twelve point lead midway through the first half. The Highlanders of Forest Park battled back and took a 36-34 lead at the half. "We got careless and they made some good plays. This team is still learning how to play together and how to play consistently hard on defense. Once they figure it that out they will be a pretty good team." Coach Sparks said.

Forest Park led at the half by two, but was shut down offensively by the Saints opportunist defense. Darius Lewis scored twelve of his fourteen points in the second half and JR Nicholson came off the bench to hit some big free-throw and grabbed some big rebounds. Forest Park's Pre-Season NJCAA All-American, Pete Burla, was held to six points and did not score in the second half. Martavious Williams came out and had another outstanding performance stuffing the stats in every category leading the Saints in scoring, rebounding, and steals. His stat line was 20 points, 7 rebounds, and 5 steals. "It was a team effort and I thought several guys played well. Forest Park is a tough place to play." Coach Sparks commented.

Shawnee moves to 4-1 on the season. The Saints will host southern Illinois rival Rend Lake on November 29, 2005 at 7:00pm.

STATISTICAL LEADERS:

Points: Williams 20, Lewis 14, & Torres 13
Rebounds: Williams 9, Bernard 7, Nicholson 7, & Robinson 6
Assists: Torres 5, Hawkins 4, & Williams 3
Steals: Williams 5, Torres, Hawkins, & Lewis with 4 each

See the Complete Box Score