Tues., Feb. 17, 2009

   FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Austin Leisure had some late banking to do Tuesday night and it paid off for the University of Saint Francis.
   Leisure dialed in long distance and banked in a 3-pointer in the 30-foot range at the buzzer for a heart-stopping 92-89 double overtime win over Huntington University. Leisure's shot also locked up fourth place in the Mid-Central College Conference and a home game in the first round of the MCC Tournament next Wednesday (Feb. 25) against either HU or Spring Arbor University depending on the outcomes of the final day of MCC regular season play on Saturday.
   HU's Kevin Kyle had tied the game at 89 with 32 seconds to play in the second overtime slipping in a 15-foot  jumper from near the free-throw line. Kyle's basket completed a Forester comeback from an 87-82 deficit.
   After a USF timeout with 21 seconds to play, the Cougars tried to run the play Jeff Rekeweg had diagramed.
   "I thought if we put Shane (Denny) out on the perimeter, they would guard him, but they didn't go for it and Dey (DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis) couldn't get open on the slip screen," Rekeweg said. "Austin had enough discipline not to try and force it in to Dey. (HU) had every option we talked about covered and Austin had to take the shot. We were fortunate it went it because he was three or four feet behind the line."
   Some of the more than 1,000 fans, USF fans of course, in attendance rushed onto the floor to celebrate with Leisure along with Leisure's teammates to celebrate the fantastic finish for the Cardiac Cougars. USF (17-12, 9-6 MCC) won its fourth straight game that went into overtime and is now 4-3 in OT games this season.
   "This was the second game in a row here where I felt like our fans gave us the edge," Rekeweg said with a weary smile. "Our students and fans pushed us to this victory. It was fun to see everybody so excited and it energized our players, which was especially important when you play double overtime."
    USF was trying to get the ball to Sawyer-Davis for good reason. The 6-foot-5 Anderson High School graduate scored 37 points and secured his 14th double-double this season with 13 rebounds. He scored 27 points in the second half and overtime combined. And on 'Senior Night', fittingly two seniors made major contributions -- Nate Bojrab with 13 points and Shane Denny off the bench with 10 points.
   "Shane hasn't seen much playing time, so I couldn't be happier to have him contribute major minutes and points in the second half and overtime on 'Senior Night,' " Rekeweg said. "He practices every day and has made us better, so what he did tonight is so fitting for it to happen here on 'Senior Night' and for Shane and 'E' (Eric Eaton), and Kreigh (Hentrup) and Nate to earn one more home game."
   Sawyer-Davis scored 10 points and USF led 36-33 at the half. The Foresters, who had a three-game winning streak snapped, was the aggressor to start the second half and charged out to a 41-36 lead on an Alex Nafziger basket with 18:33 to play. USF rallied and the two teams exchanged the lead three times before the Foresters (18-11, 7-8 MCC) pulled out to a 62-55 lead with 6:31 to play. After two Tyler Shively free throws with 5:11 to play, HU led 66-58.
  "We were on the brink of going to a full-court press," Rekeweg said. "Things didn't look good."
  Nafziger hit two free throws at 4:21 and HU still led 68-61, but back-to-back Sawyer-Davis baskets around a Shively miss cut the USF deficit to 68-65 with 3:07 to play. Kyle Benge, last week's MCC Player of the Week, hit two free throw for a 70-65 lead with 2:55 to play, but Sawyer-Davis hit two free throws at 2:33. After a Shively miss, Sawyer-Davis nailed a 3-pointer tying the game at 70 with 1:56 to play. Shively hit two free throws for a 72-70 HU lead with 34 seconds to play, but Sawyer-Davis answered with 24 second to play. Benge drove and put up a shot as time ran out that went off the back of the iron. Though the Cougars hadn't led since 52-51 with 10:39 to play, they still had a chance.
   Denny nearly got the win for USF in the first overtime when he somehow powered in a basket and made the free throw for an 82-80 USF lead with 42 seconds to play. Kyle scored with 29 seconds to play and Bojrab's 3-pointer at the buzzer was just a little too strong.
   Sawyer-Davis put USF up three with a 3-pointer at 4:31 in the second OT, then Denny scored with 3:43 to play. He missed the free throw, but USF led 87-82. Kyle hit two free throws with 2:35 to play. Kellen Zawadzki rebouned a Kyle miss and scored cutting the USF lead to 87-86 with 1:43 to play. At 1:28, Sawyer-Davis scored and was fouled, but he missed the free throw. Sawyer-Davis fouled Kyle, but he missed the first free throw and made the second with 1:03 to play. Sawyer-Davis missed a hotly contested shot in the paint with 43 seconds to play and Kyle scored setting the stage for Leisure's game-winning shot.
   Sawyer-Davis scored USF's final nine points in regulation, added two points in the first OT and five in the second OT.
   The Cougars head to Mishawaka on Saturday to conclude regular-season play at Bethel College. The game will be broadcast on WGL 1250 AM starting with the pre-game show at 2:45 p.m. Tip-off is set for 3 p.m. USF knocked off the then No. 1 Pilots 93-88 in overtime at Hutzell Athletic Center on Jan. 20. BC was ranked No. 3 in the NAIA Top 25 released on Mon., Feb. 16.