Nov 17, 2022 3 min read

Basketball coaches like to stress the importance of discipline, poise and organization to a team’s success.

While Washington & Jefferson was playing with all three of those key elements during the first half of its non-conference game Thursday night against Muskingum, the Presidents had been limited to a mere 25 points in the first 20 minutes.

Head coach Ethan Stewart-Smith knew what was missing – chaos. The Presidents needed more of it from its havoc-causing full-court pressure defense.

“It wasn’t chaotic enough,” Stewart-Smith said of the first half, which ended with W&J clinging to a 25-21 lead.

So the Presidents turned up the defensive pressure and chaos early in the second half, eventually pulling away from and wearing out Muskingum for a 75-52 victory at Salvitti Family Gymnasium.

“We had forced 15 turnovers by halftime but we scored only 25 points. We don’t want to play a half-court game. Coaches prepare their teams well so it’s tough to score in the half court. We want to play in scramble situations.

“We need to control the terms of the game. We don’t want our opponent to run a half-court offense. We want to play in a scramble situation and wear down the opponent’s first unit.”

W&J’s full-court pressure changed the game early in the second half as Isaiah Langston scored three baskets, one coming off a steal forced by the press and another at the end of a fast-break layup. Those baskets came around three free throws by J.R. Mazza, who created contact and drawing a foul while attempting a shot from behind the arc.

That was part of a 9-0 run that opened a 34-21 lead and Muskingum (0-3), a team with only one senior and no true point guard on its roster, never recovered.

“It’s organized chaos,” Muskingum first-year head coach Nathan Whale said of W&J’s defense. “They were a national tournament team last year and they the full court and try to turn you over. It’s a tough 40 minutes. When you don’t have a (point guard) who can get you settled down and not turn the ball over, it makes it tough.

“I told our team that we held them to 25 points in the first half and there won’t be another game this season when W&J scores only 25. We just let things get away from us in the second half.”

Muskingum finished the game with 32 turnovers but the havoc caused by W&J’s defense and quick-scoring offense got the Muskies out of sorts in the second half, which saw four technical fouls – three by Muskingum – in the first five minutes.

W&J (3-1) had a balanced attack with Mazza and freshman Branon Jakiela, a South Fayette graduate, topping the scoring column with 12 points each. Ten of Mazza’s points came from the free-throw line. The Presidents converted 22 of 31 free throws, a marked improvement over its first three games when W&J shot only 50 percent from the stripe.

“Most nights we’re going to lose the rebounding game,” Stewart-Smith said. “To overcome that, we have to get to the free-throw line.It was good to see us convert from there.”

Langston finished with 10 points. W&J had 11 players score at least two points.

Logan Stotzer led Muskingum with 10 points.