Dragons top Hofstra in overtime, 81-80
IT IS ONE of basketball's most agonizing moments. The clock is running, but, if you are playing or coaching, it feels as if time is standing still.
IT IS ONE of basketball's most agonizing moments. The clock is running, but, if you are playing or coaching, it feels as if time is standing still.
Drexel had just taken a one-point lead in overtime on a cold-blooded three by freshman Kurk Lee that stopped the clock with 18.8 seconds left Thursday night at the DAC. Only 17.1 seconds remained when Hofstra threw the ball inbounds after a timeout.
Justin Wright-Foreman, who had basically been unstoppable all game and had already scored 30 points, blew down the left side of the lane, Drexel big man Rodney Williams lying back to contest his shot after he ended up on him following a ball screen.
The layup looked good and then fell away. A tap by Ty Greer hung on the rim, but stayed out. Another tap by Greer definitely looked as if it was going to drop and then it too came out. The ball was tapped out of the lane. A desperation three at the buzzer by Brian Bernardi was not close.
"You sit there, you watch that ball roll on the rim, there's nothing you can do if you're on the court, there's nothing you can do if you're watching it," Drexel coach Zach Spiker said. "It's a helpless feeling. Maybe the crowd made a difference. It was at that end. Maybe the DAC Pack blew it away. Who knows?"
It was Drexel 81, Hofstra 80.
"The gods were against us on that one," Hofstra coach Joe Mihalich said. "We've seen them roll in, too. You got to make it. We had two chances to make a little layup. We didn't do it."
Williams, who finished with 22 points and has 999 for his career, had a great look at that ball hanging on the rim.
"I thought that that play was, like, 25 minutes long, watching to see what was going to happen," he said.
Drexel had lost seven of eight. Hofstra had just ended a six-game losing streak. The teams were eighth and ninth in field-goal and scoring defense in a 10-team league. It was almost certain to take 80 points to win. Turned out it took 81 and overtime.
The Dragons parlayed one of their best defensive halves of the season to a 44-31 lead at the break. Drexel (8-13, 2-6 Colonial Athletic Association) shot 55.2 percent and held Hofstra (10-12, 2-7) to 34.3 percent. Drexel had 13 assists on its 16 baskets, a testament to how quickly and how well the ball moved. The Dragons did all that with Lee playing only 10 minutes because of two early fouls and big man Austin Williams out sick.
The second-half numbers reversed, Hofstra shooting 48.5 percent, the Dragons just 39.1 percent. Ever so slowly, Hofstra closed, finally caught up with six minutes left and actually had the ball at the end of regulation with a chance to win.
The last play was designed naturally for Wright-Foreman to shoot. He passed. The ball was turned over and there were five more minutes to play.
"I don't know why he passed," Mihalich said. "We all dreamed when we played of a coach who said, 'Shoot the ball, shoot the ball, shoot the ball.' We told him to shoot and he passed. Maybe, I should have told him to pass, he would have shot."
Drexel led by three early in OT. Hofstra led, 79-76, as the clock approached a minute. Williams scored at the rim. Wright-Foreman made one of two free throws. And then Lee hit the game-winner, the last of his 17 points, all in the second half and OT.
"That little freshman's a tough kid, man," Mihalich said. "He made big shots, he made foul shots, he made his team win. He's a special player.''
Sammy Mojica had 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting for Drexel. The Dragons led for 33 minutes, fell behind when it mattered most and stayed just poised enough to win at the end.
Hofstra nearly completed the comeback despite shooting 3-for-25 from three and 15-for-28 from the foul line, which really should be impossible. They were also without second-leading scorer Eli Pemberton, who went out with a scary-looking leg injury in the first half.
Sometimes, it is just about the basketball gods.
"It was a team effort,'' Spiker said. "By team effort, I mean no one on our team got the last rebound, but we all went for it and batted it around enough to burn some time and found a way to get the streamers to come on the floor."
@DickJerardi