By By DAN WEISS / Niles Daily Star
DECATUR -- Free throws are supposed to be easy points, a punishment to the team that committed the foul.
Monday night, however, points were hard to come by from the free throw line as Brandywine varsity basketball team dropped its season opener at Decatur, 47-44.
The Bobcats made just 9-of-22 at the charity stripe and neither team could make key free throws down the stretch to put the game away.
Brandywine made just 2-of-10 in the fourth quarter while the Raiders made 8-of-14, missing the front end of two one-and-one opportunities.
A 3-pointer with 10 seconds to go by Brandywine's Alex Newman cut the Decatur lead to two at 46-44. Following a timeout the Bobcats fouled Decatur's Steve Cerven who made one free throw to increase the lead to three.
With 8.3 seconds to go the length of the floor and get a shot up, Brandywine settled for a 3-pointer in the corner by Gene McDonald that bounced out as time expired.
Cerven paced the Raiders with 24 points, including 12-of-16 from the free throw line. Andy Drenth added eight for Decatur.
Casey Udell led Brandywine with 12 points, including three 3-pointers. Mike Beauchamp and Justin Sobecki added eight and seven points, respectively.
The Bobcats found players open in the low post time and time again, but often couldn't convert the shot.
Andy Low, the Bobcats' top returning scorer, was saddled with foul trouble most of the game and fouled out with 3:26 left to go after scoring five points.
Brandywine has no time to work out the kinks as Marcellus comes to Niles tonight for the Bobcats' second game.
The Brandywine junior varsity team suffered a 63-45 loss to Decatur. Eugene Miller led the Bobcats with 13 points.
Brandywine travels to Covert Friday night.
Decatur……….47
Brandywine….44
Decatur: Steve Cerven 5 12-16 24, Brandon Wesley 1 2-4 4, John Benson 1 2-2 4, Dan Benson 1 0-0 2, Willie Knight 0 0-2 0, Justin Overley 0 0-0 0, Rodney Gravitter 0 2-4 2, Andy Pentland 0 0-0 0, Andy Drenth 3 2-2 8, Caleb Bryant 0 3-4 3. Totals: 11 23-34 47
Brandywine: Casey Udell 4 1-3 12, Justin Sobecki 2 3-6 7, Mike Beauchamp 3 2-6 8, Danny Rauch 0 0-0 0, Andy Low 2 1-2 5, Chris Carpenter 1 2-4 4, Gene McDonald 1 0-0 3, Alex Newman 2 0-0 5, Mike Nagy 0 0-0 0, Brett Shoemaker 0 0-1 0, Matt Wieger 0 0-0 0. Totals: 15 9-22 44
Decatur 11 16 8 12--47
Brandywine 10 14 9 11--44
3-point shooting: Decatur 2 (Cerven 2), Brandywine 5 (Udell 3, McDonald, Newman). Team fouls (fouled out): Decatur 22 (Drenth), Brandywine 25 (Low). Team records: Decatur 1-0, Brandywine 0-1