St. Francis prevails over Scott in double OT
2/2/2008Scott certainly had its share of moments against St. Francis de Sales last night when victory seemed imminent for the Bulldogs.
But so did the Knights, who finally figured out how to break from a see-saw contest by going on an 11-0 run in the second overtime to score an 89-84 win on their home court.
Before the game-deciding spurt, St. Francis trailed Scott by five after David Sweeney nailed a 3-pointer to give the Bulldogs an 81-76 lead with 3:05 remaining in the second OT.
"You go down five with three minutes to go, lesser teams will crumble," St. Francis coach Nick Lowe said. "That just shows you the character of our kids. They refused to lose tonight. We could have quit there and felt sorry for ourselves.
"Instead, they played a little harder and got the job done."
Jarrod Horton paced the Knights (12-5, 7-3) with 22 points, including eight during the four-minute extra periods. Fahro Alihodzic, the Knights' 6-foot-9 post, provided 19 points and 16 rebounds. Kevin Henry came through with 17 points and Moses Ramey added 13.
"Jarrod Horton made some huge free throws and shots down the stretch," Lowe said. "This is a team that every night finds a different person that steps up and leads us. Tonight it was their [Horton and Ali-hodzic] turn and that's what a team is all about."
Sweeney did as much as he could for the Bulldogs (5-9, 4-6). He pumped in 31 points and registered four steals as the Bulldogs trailed by as many as seven points during the fourth quarter before rallying to force overtime.
Sweeney appeared to have put the Bulldogs in position to win the game at the end of regulation. With the score tied at 64 and Scott with possession of the basketball with seven seconds left, Sweeney drove hard to the basket and an official's whistle was blown signaling a foul call. However, after it looked like the 6-1 senior would be heading to the free throw line with no time left on the clock, it was ruled the foul was called after the buzzer had sounded to end the quarter.
"They said that there was a foul and there was a whistle, but it came after the horn went and the horn signifies the end of the game," Lowe said. "They said the horn had sounded before the whistle and they just said we're going into overtime."
However, Scott coach Joe Suboticki thought Sweeney was hit before the buzzer sounded.
"They go by the home team's scorer and timekeeper and they said the horn went off, so you've got no recourse," Suboticki said. "I thought we should've been shooting free throws to win the game at the end."
Antwan Jones produced 15 points and Sheron Allen finished with 14 points for Scott, which pressured the Knights into 24 turnovers. The Bulldogs were guilty of only 14.
"We played hard but we weren't playing as a team when it came down to it," said Scott's Owen Dotson, who finished with eight points and six rebounds. "We didn't pass the ball well and we kept turning the ball over and I think that was a big part of our loss."
The Bulldogs scored the first two baskets in the second OT before the Knights responded with a closing 13-3 run.
"We got that five point lead and should have held the ball and we were still firing the ball up, so we've got no one to blame but ourselves in the end," Suboticki said.
Contact Donald Emmons at:
demmons@theblade
or 419-724-6302.