Goins’ Big Game Helps Eagles Snap Skid against Swedes

LINDSBORG, Kan. – Powered by a career game from junior forward Jehoiada Goins, Avila men's basketball (3-11, 2-10 KCAC) dismantled the Bethany Swedes (3-14, 2-10 KCAC) in a 77-60 victory on Saturday afternoon in Lindsborg.

In the only regular season matchup this season between two teams that entered the day with almost identical records both in-conference and overall, the Eagles and Swedes could not have looked much different. Both teams are operating with a first-year head coach and rosters that been heavily overhauled from last season, but on this day, the differences in the squads were apparent. Avila looked like the more compact, organized and efficient team, and even though many of the team stats ended up pretty even, the Eagles led for almost the entire game and the result was rarely in doubt.

It was a great team performance from the Eagles to snap a losing streak of seven straight games against NAIA opponents, helping the team to its second KCAC victory of the season. Ten Eagles suited up for the shorthanded squad, and nine of the ten scored, nine of the ten recorded a rebound, and nearly all recorded either an assist, a steal, or both.

And Jehoiada Goins was at the center of it all. The junior from KCK led all players with 25 points on 10-of-18 shooting along with 14 rebounds in just 24 minutes on the floor. His 14 boards were the most by any Eagle in a game this season, and the 25 points is tied for the most with George Williams' outing against Bethel earlier this month. Goins is the only Eagle to record double-digit rebounds in a game this season – and he's now done it three times in the first double-double performance by an Eagle this season. After not having a single 20-point performance throughout the 2023 portion of this season, Avila has now had three over the last five games: Williams, James Ross III, and now Goins.

Goins had a double-double in the second half alone – 19 points and 10 rebounds in 14 minutes – to help the Eagles stamp out any chance of a Swedes rally. But in fact, Avila had already more than taken control long before that point. Bethany scored the game's first five points and maintained that early edge for the first five minutes of the game before Avila steadily rallied to even things up at 11 apiece about seven minutes in.

Then Goins was fouled going to the hoop and nailed both of his free throws, giving the Eagles their first lead of the night with 11:36 to play, and they never gave it up. Ayris Abdelnassar drained a critical three in his first extended action of the season to give Avila some cushion, and after Bethany cut it back to within 16-15, Goins and Abdelnassar both hit layups to put Avila back up by three.

Bethany never went away down the stretch of the first half, but Josh Kilpatrick hit a trio of field goals and both Ross and Jared Larson provided important three-pointers to provide some separation, giving Avila a 36-27 lead going into the break. Goins then dominated to start the second half, scoring the first seven points of the period to give the Eagles a double-digit advantage, and that was all the separation that was needed. Avila led by as many as 23 in the second half, cruising to a 77-60 road victory.

Up next, Avila men's basketball returns home to Mabee Fieldhouse for a pair of home games against local rivals this week. First, the Eagles welcome Ottawa to Kansas City on Wednesday, January 24 for a rare tripleheader: a men's varsity reserve contest kicks off the action at 2:45 PM, followed by women's varsity at 6 PM and men's varsity at 8 PM. You can watch all the action live and for free on the Avila Sports Network.