Heinle ignites Kaneland's game-deciding run

In a game in which one scoring spurt was likely to be enough to determine the winner, host Kaneland delivered just that late in the third quarter Saturday night against Ottawa in a Northern Illinois Big 12 crossover contest.

Senior forward Tyler Heinle provided that spark with three driving layups to break open a tight game and vault Kaneland to what eventually became an easy 59-40 victory.

Prior to Heinle's outburst, the two teams battled through a tight contest that Kaneland led most of the way, but never by more than 3 to 5 points.

Heinle scored 8 of his 10 points for the game late in the third quarter and early in the fourth to give Kaneland a 44-33 lead and send the Knights into cruise control.

The short scoring burst ignited an array of offensive-rebound baskets as well for the Knights, who enjoyed a whopping 38-17 edge on the boards, with nine coming on the offensive end of the court.

Offensive rebounds produced baskets for Marcel Neil (team-high 12 points), Thomas Williams (6 points) and Matt Limbrunner (4 points, game-high 8 rebounds) as the Knights opened a 51-33 lead midway through the final quarter.

"We made a few adjustments as far as our offense was concerned in the second half and tried to cut more into the paint and have a little more patience with ball reversals," Kaneland coach Brian Johnson said.

"We capitalized on a few things, and it was nice to break loose, because they are a pretty tough team," Johnson added.

Heinle's ability to get inside was a case of remembering what his coach talked about earlier in the day.

"At our shootaround this morning we were told to reverse the ball and drive," Heinle said of the game strategy. "We got a few reversals and I saw the open lane, so I just drove in."

Kaneland (11-6) was whistled for four pushing fouls and three offensive charges in the first half, allowing the Pirates to stay in the game in the first half.

Ottawa (10-7) nabbed its last lead of the night when John Carroll knocked down a three-pointer for a 21-20 lead at the 2:34 mark of the second quarter. Trevor Heinle, who scored 9 points in the game, quickly answered with a short jumper and Clay Denlinger splashed in a three-pointer to give Kaneland some breathing room and a 25-22 halftime lead.

But the game turned dramatically after the Kaneland run late in the third.

"Late in the third they were able to get two or three layups and an offensive rebound basket to get some separation, and from that point on we struggled to protect our defensive boards, and that was pretty much it," Ottawa coach Mark Cooper said.

It was especially difficult for Cooper to watch his team get manhandled on the boards.

"When you don't rebound the ball, it is hard to get transition opportunities at the other end," Cooper said. "Trying to play in the half-court all night is very difficult, and we started playing too much one-on-one basketball and that's not a good formula for us."

Tyler Fiesel led Ottawa with 12 points, while Nathan Hawk chipped in with 11.

The teams engaged in equal-opportunity sloppiness in the game, as each committed 17 turnovers. But the Knights gave up the ball often on fouls away from the ball, while Ottawa gave up three fast-break baskets off steals.

While Johnson enjoyed watching his team dominate the boards, he noted that offensive rebounds generally occur when you don't shoot well.

"If you can't make outside shots, you better get some offensive rebounds and get extra shots," Johnson said. "It was nice that we attacked the glass."