College update: Ismail excelling at Macalester
The following are updates on local athletes at the collegiate level.
Kareem Ismail (Flintridge Prep, 2013) Macalester College men’s basketball, freshman: It’s been quite a struggle throughout the season for the Scots.
Behind a huge effort from Ismail, Macalester was able to snap a 13-game losing streak that had spanned nearly two months.
Ismail, a center and a former All-Prep League standout, finished with a team-high 15 points and four blocks to propel host Macalester to a 71-67 home overtime victory against Hamline on Saturday in a Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference contest. Ismail collected four points in the extra session.
With the score tied at 62 entering overtime, Ismail made a basket to give the Scots a 64-62 lead. He then made another basket to make it 66-64 with 1:20 remaining.
Ismail made seven of 14 shots from the floor.
In a conference home contest against St. Mary’s on Monday, Ismail registered nine points in a 79-48 defeat. He then collected a team-best 22 points in Macalester’s 64-54 conference road defeat against Gustavus on Wednesday. He converted nine of his 14 shots.
In 20 games, Ismail is averaging 11.7 points and six rebounds per contest.
The Scots feature another local in sophomore guard Dylan Kilgour, a 2012 Crescenta Valley High graduate. Kilgour also hand a hand in the win against Hamline, finishing with 13 points and five assists.
Kilgour leads the Scots with 14.1 points a game. He’s recorded 48 assists and 14 steals in 21 contests.
The Scots are 3-18, 2-14 in conference and will next participate in a conference home game against Augsburg on Saturday.
Nick Dragovich (Crescenta Valley High, 2010) Chapman men’s basketball, senior: Dragovich, a forward, continues to impress for Panthers.
Though Chapman is 11-9, 5-6 in the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, Dragovich has turned in some good performances lately.
Dragovich had 12 points and seven rebounds Saturday in Chapman’s 90-83 home conference defeat against Redlands. He finished with 10 first-half points
In an earlier conference home game against Claremont Mudd-Scripps on Jan. 29, Dragovich finished with four points and 12 rebounds in Chapman’s 66-65 setback.
Dragovich, one of five Panthers to have started all 20 contests through Saturday, is averaging 10.2 points a game (third-best on the team) and averages a team-high seven rebounds per game. In addition, he’s averaging 1.2 assists and 0.6 steals per contest.
Dragovich’s younger brother, Davis, is a sophomore forward with the Panthers. He’s participated in 18 games and is averaging 2.4 points per contest.
Chapman will take part in a conference road game Saturday at Whittier College.
Mark Saatzer (St. Francis High, 2010) Chapman University baseball senior: Saatzer enjoyed a fantastic season in 2013, batting .365 and driving in 23 runs en route to earning All-Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference accolades.
Saatzer wasted little time heating up in 2014, as he had a big effort at the plate in Chapman’s season opener Tuesday against host Cal State San Marcos.
Saatzer finished with three hits and drove in three runs and scored a pair of runs in the Panthers’ lopsided 13-2 victory under first-year Coach Scott Laverty. He had a bases-clearing three-run double in the second inning to give Chapman a 6-0 advantage. Saatzer also had singles in the first and fifth.
Chapman will meet host Texas Lutheran in a nonconference contest Friday.