Cardinals earn revenge against Indian Hills in overtime thriller
By MATT KING\Daily Journal Sports Writer
Dec 11, 2004 - 23:53:59 CST
PARK HILLS - The Mineral Area College men's basketball team watched a 19-point lead slip away at home on Saturday night, but freshman Tremaine Wilkerson tipped in a missed shot with 3.6 seconds in overtime to give the Cardinals an exciting 85-83 win over Indian Hills.
MAC (8-3) led 33-20 at halftime in a battle dominated by defense, but the 19th-ranked Warriors battled all the way back to force the extra session on a spinning layup by Dashawn Walker with 4.5 seconds left in regulation. The win for the Cardinals avenged a 62-58 loss to the Warriors on December 3 in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Indian Hills (7-3) scored on its first three possessions of overtime to grab an 83-79 lead, but a clutch three-pointer by Kenny Burke evened the score with 1:18 to go. After the teams traded turnovers in the final minute, the Warriors missed two potential game-winning shots, allowing the Cardinals to set up a final drive down the court.
The Cardinals rattled the Indian Hills offense with tough man-to-man full court defense throughout the first half, limiting the visitors to one field goal in the first 8:45 of action. The Warriors committed 12 turnovers in the first half, including six offensive fouls.
Meanwhile, a methodical offensive approach helped Mineral Area put together an 11-0 run to take an early 14-3 lead. Ray Peterson hit a baseline turn-around jumper and made a nice pass to Aaron Jackson for an easy basket to highlight the streak.
Burke knocked down a three-pointer off of a high screen, and Gary Somerville drilled two more on consecutive possessions to extend the MAC advantage to 27-13.
The Cardinals carried the momentum into the second half, scoring the first six points. Curtis Muse ignited the crowd with a strong dunk after catching a perfect pass from Dantwan Chillers to create the largest difference of the night at 41-22.
The Warriors began to create scoring chances with its defensive pressure in the second half, and their shots finally started going in. A wide open triple in transition by Tony Humphrey cut the Indian Hills deficit to 53-45 near the mid-way point.
Mineral Area found timely shooting to maintain a sizable lead for several minutes. Chillers hit a three-pointer to make the score 66-54 with 5:41 left in the second half. However, the Cardinals began forcing shots early in possessions that were not falling down the stretch.
Indian Hills mounted an 8-0 run as Walker and Akbar Abdul-Ahad sandwiched threes around two free throws by Justin Holt, trimming the difference to 68-65 with 4:09 left. Abdul-Ahad hit four triples in the contest, but his lone two-point field goal, a break-away layup at the 1:35 mark following a MAC turnover brought the Warriors to within 76-75.
Burke topped the MAC scoring column with 20 points. Ryan Byrne and Peterson each tallied 11. Wilkerson and Jackson each finished with 10, and Somerville chipped in nine.
Walker led all players with 23 points for Indian Hills. Abdul-Ahad dropped in 14 points while Holt added 13. Carl Marshall scored 12 points and was a perfect 8-8 at the free-throw line.
MAC will travel to Meramec College in St. Louis tonight for a 6 p.m. match-up against Illinois Central.
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MAC (8-3) led 33-20 at halftime in a battle dominated by defense, but the 19th-ranked Warriors battled all the way back to force the extra session on a spinning layup by Dashawn Walker with 4.5 seconds left in regulation. The win for the Cardinals avenged a 62-58 loss to the Warriors on December 3 in Ottumwa, Iowa.
Indian Hills (7-3) scored on its first three possessions of overtime to grab an 83-79 lead, but a clutch three-pointer by Kenny Burke evened the score with 1:18 to go. After the teams traded turnovers in the final minute, the Warriors missed two potential game-winning shots, allowing the Cardinals to set up a final drive down the court.
The Cardinals rattled the Indian Hills offense with tough man-to-man full court defense throughout the first half, limiting the visitors to one field goal in the first 8:45 of action. The Warriors committed 12 turnovers in the first half, including six offensive fouls.
Meanwhile, a methodical offensive approach helped Mineral Area put together an 11-0 run to take an early 14-3 lead. Ray Peterson hit a baseline turn-around jumper and made a nice pass to Aaron Jackson for an easy basket to highlight the streak.
Burke knocked down a three-pointer off of a high screen, and Gary Somerville drilled two more on consecutive possessions to extend the MAC advantage to 27-13.
The Cardinals carried the momentum into the second half, scoring the first six points. Curtis Muse ignited the crowd with a strong dunk after catching a perfect pass from Dantwan Chillers to create the largest difference of the night at 41-22.
The Warriors began to create scoring chances with its defensive pressure in the second half, and their shots finally started going in. A wide open triple in transition by Tony Humphrey cut the Indian Hills deficit to 53-45 near the mid-way point.
Mineral Area found timely shooting to maintain a sizable lead for several minutes. Chillers hit a three-pointer to make the score 66-54 with 5:41 left in the second half. However, the Cardinals began forcing shots early in possessions that were not falling down the stretch.
Indian Hills mounted an 8-0 run as Walker and Akbar Abdul-Ahad sandwiched threes around two free throws by Justin Holt, trimming the difference to 68-65 with 4:09 left. Abdul-Ahad hit four triples in the contest, but his lone two-point field goal, a break-away layup at the 1:35 mark following a MAC turnover brought the Warriors to within 76-75.
Burke topped the MAC scoring column with 20 points. Ryan Byrne and Peterson each tallied 11. Wilkerson and Jackson each finished with 10, and Somerville chipped in nine.
Walker led all players with 23 points for Indian Hills. Abdul-Ahad dropped in 14 points while Holt added 13. Carl Marshall scored 12 points and was a perfect 8-8 at the free-throw line.
MAC will travel to Meramec College in St. Louis tonight for a 6 p.m. match-up against Illinois Central.