Men lose tough ones in overtime

Look to finish strong

by: Mallory Mulvihill
Sports Editor

The men’s basketball team has been struggling this season in finding the rhythm it needs to win games in conference. The men traveled to Aruba over winter break and had fun in the sun along with some great opportunities to pick up some much needed wins, but saw their sunshine turn to ice when they traveled home. The men lost five in a row, three of which went into OT, including a nail biter against cross town rival Knox, before taking a game from Illinois College on Jan. 24.

The Scots’ first overtime loss came to a struggling Lake Forest team. The teams matched up well with each other, with both looking to find that spark to carry them over to the win column. The Scots shot well from the field (68%), but watched as the Forresters beat that with 78% shooting from the field. The men lost in overtime 84-77. The Scots put four men in double digit scoring: Anthony Beaird with 14 points and 4-8 from behind the arc, Chris Hebeler with 14, David Price put in 13, and Joe Terwelp added 11.

The following game against Grinnell on Jan.10, saw both teams score over 100 points and the Scots suffer another overtime loss. The quick moving pace of Grinnell and their smothering defense was too much for the Scots as they lost, 128-125. Grinnell returned back to its old style of play as they subbed in every couple of minutes, played a hard nosed full court defense, and shot their fair share of threes, 64 to be exact. The men battled back, going down low to a strong Terwelp, who had a team high 38 points, as he was 18-21 from the field. Freshman standout of the Pioneers’ squad, John Grotberg, scored a game high 45 points, shooting 33 shots and draining 15 of them. The men fell into the Pioneers’ style of play and forgot to go to the strong men down low. Along with Terwelp’s strong play Price scored 12 points in 12 minutes. Beaird finished with 20 points, Hebeler and classmate Tucker Blaser each finished with 16.

The last overtime game that the men competed in was a come from behind game against cross town rival Knox. The game has been deemed the most exciting game of the season, as the men came back from a 20 point deficit with less than nine minutes to play. With all the seniors sitting on the bench, the Scots came back and tied the game, 73-73 on a buzzer beater from Blaise Rogers. The men scored on 13 of their last 16 possessions, including three pointers on 7 of their last 10. With three minutes let to play in the game, Price converted a three point play, and Terwelp swooshed a game changing three to bring the score to 68-62. The Scots never gave up as they came within 6 with 34 seconds to go. In most situations like this, many teams would fear for the worst. Raun Singleton, who is shooting over 40% from behind the arc, sank a three. A quick foul resulted in two Knox free throws which brought the game to 67-72. Rogers was then fouled behind the arc, stepped to the line calmly, and sank all three in the clutch to bring the score to 70-72. Rogers committed the quick foul that brought the score to 70-73. Rogers was the star of the last minute of the game as he hit a leaning three pointer from behind a Knox defender at the buzzer to tie the game.

The men saw another heartbreaker in overtime as they lost by just one point, 80-79. The Scots had the Prairie Fire tied at 79-79. Still with no seniors in the game during the overtime, a Knox player stole an inbounds pass with three seconds left and was fouled, making one of this two free throws. Price played well scoring 19 points and 12 rebounds, Rogers also scored 19, 14 of which were in the final minutes of play.

The men finally picked up their first big conference win against Illinois College on Jan. 24. The men didn’t start their traditional five, but as soon as Beaird entered the game, he was unstoppable. He helped the Scots finish a great half of basketball as he hit three treys in a row at the end to bring the score to 37-21 at the half. The Blue Boys came out of the half on a 9-0 run, but the Scots held off the attack and sealed the deal with a trey from Singleton. Beaird finished with 18 points, including going 5-6 from the free throw line in the final minutes of play. Price added his second straight double double with 11 rebounds and 13 points.

The men host two games on Friday Jan. 27 against Lawrence University and Saturday Jan. 28 against St. Norbert. The men already dropped one to the Green Knights this year and look to avenge that loss.