Home  Basketball (M) Men's Basketball - Bears Magical Ride Ends with OT Loss
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Men's Basketball - Bears Magical Ride Ends with OT Loss |
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 Grant Johnson led all scorers with 26 points, including eight 3-pointers, but the Bears magical season ended in the Elite 8.
Matt Hilton hit a back breaking 3-pointer with 1:43 left in overtime giving the host Bears a 77-72 lead and they held on for the win.
Ursinus (29-2) used a 9-2 run to take a 59-52 lead with 11:04 left following three free throws by junior John Noonan.
Coast Guard answered with seven straight as junior Craig Johnson, hit a 3-pointer, the team’s first of the second half, to tie the game 59-59 with 9:36 left.
Coast Guard led 62-61 following a free throw by senior Jeff Prebeck with 5:33 left before Ursinus ran off six straight for a 67-62 lead with 4:13 left, but Coast Guard then scored seven straight capped on a Johnson 3-pointer with 1:45 left for a 69-67 lead. Remy Cousart made a pair of free throws with 16.8 seconds left to tie the game at 69-69.
Coast Guard senior Al Sowers missed 3-point attempt in closing seconds of regulation, to send the game to overtime.
Senior Grant Johnson made seven 3-pointers in the first half, as he connected on 7-of-10 from behind the arc leading the Bears with 21 points. He finished with a game-high 26 points as he connected on eight of 20 three-pointers. Craig Johnson had 16 points, nine rebounds and a game-high seven assists. Prebeck had 13 points and a team-high 10 rebounds and Sowers finished with 11 points.
Ursinus jumped out to a 15-6 lead with 12:51 left in the first half and they led 20-11 with 10:27 left in the half.
Coast Guard then scored eight straight to pull to within 20-19 following a 3-pointer by senior Al Sowers with 8:35 left in the half.
Coast Guard, which was sizzling 9-for-14 from 3-point range in the first 20 minutes, took its first lead of the half on basket by senior Jeff Prebeck with 4:38 left and Coast Guard took its largest lead of the half, 38-34, on Johnson’s seventh 3-pointer of the half, with 42 seconds left.
Coast Guard was 14-for-32 from the floor in the first half (43.8 percent) while Ursinus was 13 for 30 (43.3) from the field and 4-for-12 from behind the arc.
Junior John Noonan and senior Michael Shema combined for 24 points on 9 of 11 shooting in the first half with 13 and 11 points respectively.
Coast Guard was just 2 of 13 from 3-point range in the second half.
The team finished 24-7 while the senior class finished with a four-year record of 68-41. The 68 wins is the second most in a four-year span at the Academy. The senior trio of Grant Johnson, Sowers and Prebeck started all 109 games in their outstanding careers.
Prebeck leaves as the all-time leading scorer (1,614 points) and second all-time with 1,114 rebounds. He is the only player in Coast Guard history to score over 1,500 points and grab 1,000 rebounds. Sowers leaves as the Bears all-time leader in assists (400) and 3-point baskets (266) and he is second all-time with 1,518 points. Johnson, who is 10th all-time with 1,137 points, is second in school history with 244 three-pointers to go with his 307 assists which rank him third all-time. Sowers, Johnson and current assistant coach Sam Cheung (‘02) are the only three players in school history to score 1,000 points and record 300 assists.
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