WC men lose OT heartbreaker

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CINCINNATI – Moments after senior Zach McCorkle pulled the Wilmington College men’s basketball even in overtime, Mount St. Joseph took the inbounds pass the length of the court and hit the game-winning layup allowing the Lions escaped with the 98-96 non-conference victory at the Harrington Center.

“It was a great college basketball game, especially for an early season game,” said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. “I was proud of the fight we had, we just didn’t make enough plays when we had an opportunity to take control of the game. When it was tied, we turned it over twice and took a bad shot. Those are the little things we have to get better at. With the team all year long, every experience we get will be a first experience for most of these guys. It was great for us to get this experience even though we came up on the wrong end.”

Trailing by nine in the overtime period with 90 seconds remaining, the Fightin’ Quakers mounted a furious comeback. Sophomore Christian Jones (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton) and McCorkle (Cincinnati, OH/Winton Woods) scored five of the game’s next six points. Wilmington crawled closer as missed free throw was tipped out to freshman Kevin Lewis (Cincinnati, OH/Clark Montessori), who drilled the three-pointer.

Lewis followed with a steal and layup off the WC press, pulling the Fightin’ Quakers within one. After MSJ hit one of two free throws with 18 seconds remaining, Wilmington pulled even with McCorkle’s layup.

The overtime comeback was the second time Wilmington overcame a second-half deficit. The Fightin’ Quakers trailed by nine, midway through the second half. They continued to chip away at their deficit, and when Andrew Russell (Columbus, OH/Central Crossing) connected on two free throws with 1:46, the comeback was complete.

Following back-to-back player control fouls, the Lions reclaimed the lead with a three-pointer from the corner with 52 seconds remaining. Jones hit a driving layup to pull WC within one, and MSJ pushed the lead back to three with a pair of free throws.

Sophomore Travis Gleason (Reynoldsburg, OH/Reynoldsburg), whose defensive intensity changed the tide of the game, sent the game into overtime with a three-pointer.

“Travis’ intensity level and his shear passion for the game are contagious, and I thought he made some tremendous plays,” said Hunt. “Obviously, knocking down the three to tie the game, and his defensive energy is going to be a key all year long. His energy jumpstarted us because we were sleep walking to start that second half.”

Both teams came out shooting in the first half as WC converted 48.3 percent (14-of-29) of its shots in the first 20 minutes, and MSJ made half its shots. The game was marred a little as 61 fouls were called, leading to 85 free throws being attempted.

Jones hit a school record 18 free throws with a school-record tying 20 attempts as he scored a team-high 25 points. McCorkle recorded his first career double-double with 24 points and a career-high 12 rebounds.

“Both of those guys are very good players,” said Hunt. “We are expecting them to have all-league type seasons. Our team did a great job of identifying where they were open, and to their credit, they made plays.”

In his first collegiate game, Russell finished with 14 points and four rebounds, while Gleason tallied a career-high 10 points. Sophomore D.J. Iles (Fayetteville, OH/Fayetteville-Perry) dished out a career-high six assists.

Wilmington (0-1 overall) travels to Bloomington, IL for the Illinois Wesleyan Tournament. The Fightin’ Quakers play the host Titans 8:30 p.m. Saturday.

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WC Sports Info. Dept.

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