Anderson plays a key role in getting Lourdes on track

In just his second year playing NAIA basketball for Lourdes University, 6-foot-3, 185 pound sophomore Little Anderson (Cardinal Stritch) is already making an impact.

Coach Dennis Hopson returned 15 players from last year’s roster that finished the year 20-11 overall and 13-7 in the WHAC.  Hopson has also brought in a pair of talented freshmen along with two transfers for the upcoming season.

With all the talent on this year’s roster, Lourdes has significant depth at all five positions on the court, giving Hopson the ability to play multiple lineups throughout the game.  He has moved some positions around to optimize players potential.  The Gray Wolves return three individuals that have earned All-WHAC accolades at some point in their career.

At the three wing position, Anderson is back after a strong rookie season in which he averaged 9.2 points and 3.9 rebounds per game for the Gray Wolves as a mainstay in the starting lineup. 

Anderson appeared in all 31 games, making 30 starts. He was a member of the Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference All-Newcomer Team.

Anderson scored a season-high 23 points at Akron Wayne, tallied double figures in scoring 13 time, grabbed nine rebounds at Concordia (Mich.), tallied four assists in his collegiate debut against Harris-Stowe and shot 45.1 percent from the floor and 77.2 percent from the free throw line during the season.

At Stritch, Anderson was a three-year letter winner for the Cardinals, a first team All-Toledo Area Athletic Conference selection as a senior, earned second team All-TAAC honors as a junior and was honorable mention All-TAAC as a sophomore. A second team All-District 7 honoree, he was named District 7 All-Star Game Most Valuable Player. Little is the son of Lori Anderson and he is majoring in business administration.

On Wednesday evening, Anderson played a major role as Lourdes raced out to a double-digit advantage less than nine minutes into the contest and never looked back on the way to a 92-77 victory over East-West in the Gray Wolves’ home opener inside the Russell J. Ebeid Recreation Center. It was Lourdes’ first win of the season as the school just resumed its season after a coronavirus protocol hiatus.

A 9-0 run put Lourdes in front 18-8 following a basket by Nick Welch (Monroe St. Mary, Mich.) just 8:14 into the contest.  Another 10-0 run midway through the stanza pushed the lead to 17, 31-14, and the Gray Wolves would not see its lead fall to single digits the rest of the way.

Lourdes made one final run before halftime, a 15-4 spurt, on the way to taking a 46-25 lead into the locker room.  Welch tallied 14 points before the break while Anderson added 10 more in the opening 20 minutes.

The lead ballooned to 27, 54-27, less than two minutes out of the locker room before the Phantoms battled back.  An 18-5 run by East-West pulled the visitors within 14 midway through the stanza.  Lourdes responded with the next 10 points to regain its 24-point edge, eventually extending the lead to 30, 83-53, with 4:42 to play.

East-West (3-12) scored the next 10 points to begin a 15-2 run, and eventually pulled to within 14 in the final seconds before the game’s final margin was decided.

“Like I told the guys after the game, we won the game but I wasn’t happy tonight,” Lourdes coach Dennis Hopson said.  “Giving up 52 points in the second half was not good.  We had too many mental breakdowns and missed way too many free throws (60 percent, 21-of-35).  I did think our first group of guys did a nice job playing together on defense before I started mixing up lineups though.”

Welch and Anderson led Lourdes with 18 points each, with Welch also pulling down 11 rebounds for a double-double.  Julian Egbo (Rogers) also notched a double-double with 13 points and 10 boards while Clif Snow (Middletown) and Mike Bruce (Ypsilanti, Mich.) added 10 points each.

  Lourdes (1-2) remained home on Saturday afternoon, opening Wolverine-Hoosier Athletic Conference play hosting the University of Northwestern Ohio inside the Ebeid Rec Center. (— by Lourdes SID Ryan Wronkowicz and Press Sports Editor J. Patrick Eaken)

 

 

 

 

Category:

The Press

The Press
1550 Woodville Road
Millbury, OH 43447

(419) 836-2221

Email Us

Facebook Twitter

Ohio News Media Association