Wed., Feb. 25, 2009

   FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- So much for home-court advantage.
   University of Saint Francis coach Jeff Rekeweg couldn't believe it. Neither could the USF student section. And even the Spring Arbor University section found it hard to believe, though it was happy to accept two controversial calls in the final 18 seconds of the game and sneak out of Fort Wayne with a 73-68 win in the opening round of the Mid-Central College Conference Tournament on Wednesday night.
   With 17.6 seconds to play in the game, USF guard Austin Leisure was whistled for a double-dribble and SAU clinging to a 69-68 lead. Now maybe USF wouldn't have scored anyway, but Rekeweg and the USF fans would have liked to see how things played out. Instead, the USF Cougars were forced to foul. Kevin Ludwig hit both free throws with 17 seconds left for a 71-68 lead.
   USF forward DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis took along 3-pointer that bounced off the rim and apparently off an SAU player on the baseline. Once again one of the three-man crew saw it differently with 7.3 seconds to play. Forced to foul, SAU's D.J. Baiden hit both for what proved to be the final points with six seconds to play.
   Rekeweg understandably had little to say after the bitter loss, which abruptly end USF's season at 17-14 in front of a crowd of more than 600.
   "We did a number of good things, positive things tonight," Rekeweg said. "But the way things went at the end, it is a very disappointing finish."
   Sawyer-Davis finished with 30 points, 23 in the second half after a first half where he watched for the last eight minutes of the first half. In spite of the absence of Sawyer-Davis in the first half, USF kept within striking distance trailing only 37-32 at halftime. With Sawyer-Davis in the game, SAU had opened up a 23-14 lead with 9:17 left in the half. USF charged back to within 30-28 on a Kreigh Hentrup 3-pointer with 4:47 to play. Shane Denny made a rebound basket trimming the USF deficit again to two, 32-30, with 4:02 in the half, but SAU kept the lead through the first 20 minutes.
  Down five at the half was positive considering USF shot .407 (11 for 27) from the field while the visitors shot .519 (14 for 27). SAU did outscore USF 22-14 in the paint in the first half.
  USF outscored SAU 15-4 in the first six minutes and change of the second half to take a 42-41 lead when Hentrup converted a 3-point play with 14:24 to play in the game. Sawyer-Davis scored in the paint to put USF up three, 45-42 with 12:46 to play off a feed from Hentrup and USF fans were hoping the home Cougars were ready to take off. Just 12 seconds later, Baisden dashed those hopes with a game-tying 3-pointer, the fourth of eight in the game, at 45.
   SAU edged out to a four-point lead before USF charged back on the scoring of Sawyer-Davis. He hit four consecutive free throws and a jumper in the paint putting USF back in front 53-52 with 6:25 to play. SAU junior Rob Boss regained the lead 54-53 with 6:08 to play. After slipping behind by three, USF rebounded and took the lead again on a Denny basket and a 3-point Sawyer-Davis play with 4:01 to play 60-58.
  After ties at 60 and 61, Sawyer-Davis hit two two free throws for a 62-61 advantage with 3:37 to play. Ludwig scored for a 62-61 SAU lead, but Nate Bojrab scored at 3:02 for a 64-63 lead. Boss, who led all scorers with 31 points, put SAU in front for good with a short jumper in the paint for a 65-64 lead with 2:48 to play. Sawyer-Davis hit two free throws at 2:06 pulling USF within 1, 67-66. Boss scored for a 69-66 SAU lead with 41 seconds left, but Leisure was fouled with 32 seconds to play and hit the second of two free throws cutting the difference to 69-68.
   Baisden missed two free throws at 23 seconds to play and Denny grabbed the rebound setting up the trauma of Leisure's alleged ball-handling violation. By the time it was over, there were eight ties and 15 lead changes.
   SAU (21-10) won all three games with USF this season and will play at MCC Tournament top-seeded Bethel College on Saturday.
   Sawyer-Davis finishes with the third best single season scoring performance in USF history. He closed with 742 points, posted his ninth 20-plus scoring game in his last 10 and eighth game with 30 or more points. Hentrup, one of four seniors playing in their last game for USF, finished with 12 points.
   Unfortunately USF's shaky shooting got worse in the second half. The Cougars only shot .385 in the final 20 minutes (10 for 26) and went 0-for-9 shooting from the arc. Shooting .158 (3 for 19) just isn't going to win many games, though the two teams scored 36 points apiece in the second half.
   USF finished 2-11 in game it trailed at halftime.
  Other seniors playing for the final time included Denny, Bojrab and Eric Eaton, who did not score in three-plus minutes of play.
  SAU shot .571 in the second half (12 for 21) and finished at .542 for the game. SAU did miss nine free throws, but the visitors held on to win.