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01.16.07 - Down four with 18 seconds to go in regulation,
things looked bleak for
HU (19-3, 7-1), but an improbable turn of events allowed the Foresters
to send it to overtime where they held off Grace College (16-5, 4-4)
for the 79-77 win. The
Foresters had to overcome a 12-point second half deficit to get back
in the game and did so with some timely long range shooting. HU
took its largest lead of the half at 56-53 on a James Haifley
three-point play with 7:04 to go. Then the seesaw battle began.
First the Lancers stormed back in front with a 9-0 run over the
next three minutes to take a 62-56 lead with just under five minutes
to play. Then the Foresters answered with seven consecutive
points to reclaim a 63-62 lead at the 2:37 mark. Grace again
responded with a 5-0 spurt to take a 67-63 lead with under a minute to
play.
HU had a couple chances to cut into the
Lancers' lead, but couldn't connect. When Tyler Leighton came up
with a defensive rebound on a Jared Yoder miss, Alex Kock was forced
to foul him. Leighton missed the front end of the one-and-one,
but Grace's Marcus Moore came up with the big offensive rebound.
Again the Foresters were forced to foul and they again sent Leighton
to the line with 18 seconds to play. Leighton's struggles
continued as he missed another front end. This time the Lancers
were whistled for a foul on the rebound, sending Kyle Ganton to the
stripe at the other end. Ganton knocked down both to pull HU
within two at 67-65.
When Grace inbounded the ball, the
Foresters stuck with what was working and hacked Leighton again with
15 seconds to play. Leighton hit the first, but left the door
open when he missed the second. Yoder grabbed the carom and
pushed it up the floor. The Foresters worked the ball around
until they found Kyle Benge open beyond the arc on the left wing.
Benge drained the trey with eight seconds left to knot the score at
68-68. Marcus Moore's three-point attempt at the buzzer was off
the mark sending the game to an extra period.
In the extra session, the two teams
traded layups on their first possessions, but then Ganton took over.
He scored seven straight points for HU to give the Foresters a 77-71
cushion with 3:06 to play, but Grace didn't go away.
Eric Gaff hit a layup and Moore added
two more to tie the game at 77-77 with 30 seconds to play. HU
called a timeout to set up for one final shot. The Foresters got
the ball in and used the clock well as Kock drained the game-winning
jumper at the top of the lane with 2.9 second left. Scott
Moore's half-court heave came up just short giving HU the unbelievable
come-from-behind victory.
Ganton finished with a game-high 26
points on 9-13 shooting, including 4-6 from behind the arc and 4-4 at
the line. Kock added a double-double with 23 points and 15 rebounds.
Marcus Moore led the Lancers with 20 points and Gaff chipped in his
own double-double with 19 points and 11 boards.
The Foresters had an uncharacteristic
night with 15 turnovers in the game and shot just 43.5% (30-69) from
the field and just 57.9% (11-19) at the free throw line. Grace
was 30-68 for 44.1% from the field and 11-18 from the charity stripe
for 61.1%.
Box Score
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