January 19, 2002 12:44 AM
Turnovers doom Rocks in loss at Quincy
By Matt Schuckman, correspondent QUINCY -- The mountain of turnovers the Rock Island
basketball team buried itself under Friday night left the Rocks in a precarious position.
They can climb or they can cower.
First-year coach Thom Sigel hopes pride defines their decision.
``I have confidence since they wear Rock Island jerseys they're going to have some
pride and we're going to get better,'' Sigel said after a 51-33 Western Big 6 Conference
loss to Quincy at Blue Devil Gym. ``These are the times you develop character.''
A sloppy effort developed problems for the Rocks.
Rock Island (9-6, 2-3 WB6) committed 40 turnovers -- 22 in the first half -- and hit
just 12-of-30 field goals. Take away Howard Davis' 8-of-9 shooting and the Rocks shot 19
percent (4 of 21) from the field.
``I want to see what our players, individually and collectively, are made of,'' Sigel
said. ``We have to choices -- to pack it in and put our tail between our legs or be men
about it and get back to work.''
Not much worked for Rock Island in the first half after a brief one-point lead.
Despite the miscues handling the ball, the Rocks took a 7-6 lead on Marcus McQueen's
3-pointer from the left corner with 2:14 to go in the first. The Blue Devils answered by
scoring the final six points of the quarter for a 12-7 edge.
``We really got through the first quarter in good shape, especially being on the
road,'' Sigel said.
He couldn't say the same about the second quarter.
Rock Island committed 13 turnovers, including mistakes on five straight and seven of
eight possessions as Quincy pushed the lead to 20-11. The Rocks scored just one basket --
a putback by Brandin Smith -- over the final seven points.
Meanwhile, Quincy (9-6, 3-2 WB6) scored nine points off turnovers to take a 25-12 lead.
The Blue Devils had 15 first-half steals, while the Rocks had just four steals and one
assist.
``We didn't rotate back on defense some,'' Sigel said. ``Then to turn the ball over,
especially in the backcourt, they're going to get easy baskets.''
Quincy didn't take complete advantage of Rocky's struggles.
After 13 first-half turnovers, the Blue Devils opened the second half with back-to-back
turnovers. Then they missed four consecutive shots.
Luckily, an 11-3 run enabled the Blue Devils to build a 42-19 lead. The Rocks scored
just seven third-quarter points as they made just 3 of 9 shots and 1 of 4 free throws.
``I thought our defense was very good,'' Quincy coach Loren Wallace said.
``It's probably what won us the ballgame. We didn't score out of our defense like we
should have.
``We should have had a 20-point lead in the first quarter. We just kept giving it right
back to them or missing bunnies or just making bad decisions.''
Quincy finished with 25 turnovers and made 22 of 53 shots and 2 of 10 3-pointers.
Junior forward Bryce Bushmeyer led the Blue Devils with 16 points, while Rocky held Marcus
Medsker, the league's second-leading scorer at 17.1 points per game, to six points.
Davis led Rock Island with 16 points, while McQueen had a game-high seven
rebounds.
Copyright 2000, Moline Dispatch
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