By By ERIKA PICKLES / Niles Daily Star
NILES – Brandywine head coach Nathan Knapp was nothing but smiles after Friday's Lakeland Conference basketball game against Edwardsburg.
The Bobcats picked up a 57-40 victory on Senior Night and the last home game of the season.
"This was a fun night. It was a special night for the seniors and it's always night when they can leave their home court with a win," Knapp said.
Seniors on this year's squad include Matt Beaver, Billy McDonald, Kyle Low, Matt Duckett, Zak Bollenbacher and Adam Hancock.
"Zak and Adam I've only had for one year, but they both have a great work ethic. Zak works extremely hard in practice and does whatever I ask him to and Adam is a great kid," Knapp said.
Both Bollenbacher and Hancock were transfer at the beginning of the school year.
Knapp continued, "Kyle is the most unselfish player I've seen. Duckett is a very hard worker. Him and McDonald both do anything I ask of them without hesitation and Beaver … you just have to love him. I love all the seniors they are great group of guys."
All six saw significant playing time against the Eddies, who suffered their eighth straight loss.
Brandywine broke open in the first quarter and held Edwardsburg to just two points, both coming from the free throw line.
Beaver and Hancock, who both had three 3-pointers on the night, nailed their first threes in the period, which helped give the Bobcats a 13-2 lead.
The Eddies struggled to make shots again in the second and hit their first bucket, not at the free throw line, with 1:52 on the clock when Adam Young nailed a three pointer. Brandywine carried a 32-15 lead into the second half.
Another low scoring period worked to Edwardsburg's disadvantage as Brandywine outscored the Eddies 16-8 to take a 48-23 lead into the final period.
Brandywine ended the night with seven 3-pointers.
Hancock led all scorers with 18 points. Beaver added 11 and Matt Harvey had eight for the Bobcats.
For Edwardsburg, no player scored in double digits as Nate Harness led the team with seven points. Kevin Stack and Young were both held to just six points each.
"This was a great win for us. The guys never gave up and had fun out there," Knapp added.
Brandywine (8-9 overall, 5-6 in the Lakeland Conference) will head to Coloma today for a make-up game against the Comets. Game times begin at 11 a.m.
Edwardsburg (4-14 overall, 1-112 in conference) will head to River Valley on Monday.
Brandywine … 57
Edwardsburg … 40
BRANDYWINE (57) – Adam Hancock 3 3 3-4 18, Danny Williams 0 0-0 0, Noah Udell 0 1-2 1, Zak Bollenbacher 0 2-2 2, Matt Duckett 0 1-2 1, Billy McDonald 1 3-6 5, Caleb Frazier 0 1 0-0 3, Bill Bussey 0 4-4 4, Kyle Low 1 0-0 2, Matt Harvey 4 0-1 8, Matt Beaver 1 3 3-0 11, Josh Benjamin 1 0-0 2. Totals: 11 7 14-24 57.
EDWARDSBURG (40) – Brian Sevison 1 3-3 5, Adam Young 0 2 1-0 6, Mike Rangel 1 1 0-0 5, Nate Harness 3 1-4 7, Lance Koehn 0 1-2 1, Brent Shuttleworth 0 1-2 1, Nick Fedore 0 0-0 0, John Rosol 1 0-0 2, Matt Boesler 2 0-0 4, Korey Moore 1 1-2 3, Kevin Stack 2 2-4 6. Totals: 11 3 9-18 40.