SEWANEE, Tenn. –
Russ Marr's basket plus the foul with 1.4 seconds remaining helped Sewanee erase an 11-point deficit in the final 100 seconds, with the free throw giving the Tigers their only lead of the game in an 81-80 victory over Millsaps in men's basketball action Saturday in Jackson, Miss.
Sewanee (15-6, 7-1 SAA) trailed by 20 points late in the first half and by 12 at intermission but tied the game at 62 with seven minutes to play after a 3-pointer from
Tre Corrigan. Millsaps (3-17, 1-6) answered with a 15-4 run over the next five minutes, with Nicholas Ughovwa posting 10 of his 19 second-half points during the stretch. The Tigers were 1-of-6 from the field and missed 3-of-5 free throws during the Majors spurt.
Two foul shots by Dakota Gasca with 1:41 remaining put Millsaps in front, 77-66, but a putback by
Reid Carrier started the final run by Sewanee, 15-3, to end the contest. TJ Hogan missed the front end of a 1-and-1 for Millsaps and
Luka Avaliani, who struggled from the field all day, connected on two foul shots after an offensive rebound with 1:08 to play.
The Majors turned the ball over on an inbounds, with Marr knocking it away and off Gasca, and Avaliani converted a layup on the ensuing inbounds play. Millsaps then threw away the inbounds again, giving Sewanee another chance, and
Tre Corrigan was fouled, hitting two free throws with 59.1 seconds on the clock, cutting the Millsaps lead to 77-74.
Cameron Lumar missed a jump shot for the Majors on the next possession but Drew Roth got the offensive rebound and was fouled with 26.8 seconds to go, making 1-of-2 free throws. Avaliani rushed up the floor and converted a reverse layup, making it 78-76 with 20.6 ticks on the clock.
Lumar was fouled near midcourt on the inbounds pass and he also connected on 1-of-2 foul shots. Corrigan went to the foul line again with 9.6 seconds remaining after a foul on Gasca and knocked down both attempts, cutting the deficit to one.
Hogan drew the foul with 6.4 seconds to play on the inbounds and for the third straight time, Millsaps made 1-of-2, opening the door for the Tigers, who called timeout with 4.7 seconds to go after dribbling to midcourt. Marr took the inbounds and went to the rim on the right side, hanging in the air to draw the contact and converting the layup. His free throw with 1.4 seconds on the clock put Sewanee in front, 81-80.
Ughovwa's heave from 75-feet was no good and the Tigers escaped with the win, remaining in first place in the SAA by a half-game over Berry College.
Graham Smith helped Sewanee stay in the contest, especially early in the second half, finishing with 18 points, including 5-of-6 from 3-point range, while pulling down 12 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season and 11
th double-figure rebounding effort.
Avaliani made only 3-of-12 from the field and two of those came in the final minute but collected 11 points and eight boards while
Fletcher Bigham netted 12 of his 16 points in the first half before fouling out, registering nine rebounds as well. Marr tallied 14 points and Corrigan added three 3-pointers and registered 15 points.
Ughovwa led the Majors with 23 points on 10-of-15 shooting while Lumar posted 15 points, Roth added 14 and Hogan netted 11.
The Tigers missed their first six shots of the game before Avaliani's layup got the team on the board. Bigham's basket made it 7-4 Majors before Roth made his second 3-pointer in the first four minutes for Millsaps. Hogan added a triple for a 13-6 Majors advantage five minutes in the contest.
Carrier converted a layup and Bigham netted two free throws, cutting the deficit to 13-10, and an old-fashioned 3-point play by Marr made it 15-13 Millsaps. A basket by Bigham ended a three-minute stretch without a field goal for Sewanee, with Mack Gorton converting a three-point play along with a jumper by Lumar and free throws from Caleb Kent and Hogan for a 22-16 lead.
Lumar made a 3-pointer, a layup and then another three, extending the advantage to 30-18 with eight minutes left in the half. Gasca collected an old-fashioned 3-point play, Roth, Gorton and Caleb Kent added baskets and Roth recorded one foul shot, pushing the Millsaps lead to 40-20 with five minutes to play in the period.
Sewanee was missing layups and 3-pointers and everything in-between. The Tigers finally put together a 10-2 spurt over the last three minutes, starting with a triple from Smith, the only one of the half for the club. Marr netted two free throws, Smith made one as well and Corrigan and Bigham each posted layups in the final minute, cutting the Millsaps lead to 42-30 at the half.
Sewanee shot 29 percent (10-of-35) from the field, 1-for-11 from 3-point range. Bigham posted 12 points and seven rebounds while Lumar led the Majors with 10 points and Roth added nine. Millsaps converted six offensive rebounds into 11 second-chance points in the first 20 minutes as well.
Sewanee plays Berry on Friday and Oglethorpe on Sunday next weekend in the final regular season home games of the year for the Tigers.
