Feb. 12, 2008

Box Score

River Forest, IL - The Dominican University Stars led wire to wire on Tuesday night, enjoying a 72-51 win over the Benedictine University Eagles in Dominican's Igini Sports Forum. The Stars began the game on a 16-4 run over the game's first four minutes, capped by an Andre Smith (Cleveland, OH) three-point jumper.

Dominican continued to build upon its lead throughout the entire first half, enjoying its largest lead at 48-23 after a Jose Garcia (Kenosha, WI) three-ball, Garcia's fifth three-pointer of the half, with just over a minute remaining in the opening period. The Stars then ended the half with a 48-25 lead after a Benedictine layup to close out the first frame.

The Stars then coasted to the Northern Athletics Conference (NAC) victory, with Benedictine never coming any closer than 18 points throughout the game's final 20 minutes.

Dominican's Garcia led all scorers on the evening, pouring in a season-high 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting from the field, including a perfect 6-for-6 from behind the three-point stripe. Garcia was also a perfect 2-for-2 from the free throw line in 28 minutes off the Stars' bench.

Smith and senior forward Mike Haiduc (Chicago, IL) also scored in double figures for Dominican with Smith adding 11 points and Haiduc 10 points in the winning effort. Smith also dished out a game-high seven assists and logged two steals in 39 minutes of work while Haiduc's ten points came off of 5-for-8 shooting from the field.

On the game, Dominican was 26-for-51, shooting 51 percent from the field, and 9-for-12 from three. Defensively, the Stars held Benedictine to just 32.7 percent shooting from the field (18-for-55) and 23.1 percent from three (3-for-13). On the glass, the Stars held a 37-33 advantage but did surrender 12 offensive rebounds to the Eagles.

The win pushed the Stars into eighth place in the NAC at 8-8 in conference play, one half game ahead of Benedictine. The Stars are now 11-11 overall on the season with three regular season contests remaining, including a matchup with the Marian College Sabres, currently in second place in the NAC at 11-3, on Saturday at Dominican. Tipoff is scheduled for 4:15 p.m. in the Igini Sports Forum.