By: Athletic Communications Student Intern Andrew Zimmerman '22
MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. —The Baldwin Wallace University men's basketball team fell to Wartburg (Iowa) College in the finals of the Cruzin Classic with a final score of 73-71.
BW (6-4) was led offensively by junior guard Jake Snyder (Akron/Archbishop Hoban) with 16 points and contributed five rebounds. Sophomore All-OAC guard Drew Wennes (Huron) added 15 points and junior All-OAC guard Anthony Mazzeo (North Canton/Massillon Jackson) earned 13 points.
Wartburg (10-2) were led by junior guard Jack Molstead with 16 points and junior center Codey Hicks added 15 points while leading the Knights in rebounds with 13 boards.
The first half opened in BW's favor. The Yellow Jackets held Wartburg scoreless for the first minutes of the game and a trio of Wennes three-point shots had the Yellow Jackets up 16-12. However, that initial success was not sustainable as Wartburg found a rhythm and maintained the lead for much of the half. BW went on an 8-2 scoring run after calling a timeout down 20-16, leading the Knights 24-22, but that was the last lead the Yellow Jackets held in the first half. Wartburg finished the first half with a 44-33 advantage.
The second half tested the Yellow Jackets' resilience. BW continued to chip away at Wartburg's lead and never trailed by double-digits the rest of the game. Wennes made another three-point shot to close the Wartburg gap to 60-56 and forced the Knights to call a timeout. Sophomore forward Rob Watson III (Sagamore Hills/Nordonia) made a layup to shorten the Wartburg edge to just one point (66-65) with three minutes left in the game. Ultimately, the Knights were able to stop the Yellow Jackets pressure and took the victory with a final score of 73-71.
The Yellow Jackets will get an extended break and return to action on Monday, January 3 as they travel to Westerville, Ohio to face OAC opponent Otterbein University at 5 p.m. in the Rike Center.