SSU MBB outlasts Rio Grande in 2OT, 79-74, behind career-high 24 from Beard
| Final | 1 | 2 | OT | 2OT | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Rio Grande (12-16, 6-11) | 31 | 32 | 7 | 4 | 74 |
|
Shawnee State (19-8, 13-4) | 30 | 33 | 7 | 9 | 79 |
The men's basketball series between Shawnee State and Rio Grande rarely disappoints.
After all, it's a series that, as of Friday, was a tightly-contested 39-32 margin overall in Rio Grande's favor -- and, over the last 54 affairs, an even-tighter 29-25 lead in favor of SSU.
Saturday's contest, however, was an instant classic that may very well be one of the best games of them all.
Tre Beard's career-high 24 points led four double-figure scorers for Shawnee State and the Bears held off two separate rallies by Rio Grande at the end of regulation and the end of the first overtime to outlast the RedStorm, 79-74, in a double overtime thriller Saturday evening at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.
Shawnee State was held to a shooting percentage that was nearly eight percent below its season average and was outrebounded by Rio Grande by a 43-36 margin, but the Bears found the winning formula through several factors, including a 10-of-22 shooting performance from downtown (45.5 percent).
Bottoms up for Beard
Grinding out yet another efficient performance, Shawnee State guard Tre Beard posted his new career-high single-game point total of 24 tallies on just 12 shots from the field.
In addition to playing all 50 minutes in the contest, Beard had just two turnovers and went a perfect 9-of-9 from the free throw line. In the second overtime, Beard's layup -- which resulted in an and-one opportunity with 4:42 to play in the second overtime -- put Shawnee State ahead for good in the contest, and from there, Beard canned each of his four remaining free throw attempts over the game's final 19 seconds to seal the deal.
Beard's new career-high raised his scoring average to 11.2 for the season. The veteran guard presence also shot 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-7 from three-point range, continuing a year of fantastic production where Beard is shooting 47.8 percent from the field and 48.2 percent from three-point range.
Dawson, Johnson knock down big jumpers
Helping take the load off of Beard offensively, fellow Shawnee State upperclassmen John Dawson and Tyreke Johnson were big in critical situations knocking down open shots.
Dawson, who scored 11 of his 13 points in the second half, hit critical three-pointers at the 17:08, 14:50 and 9:53 marks of the second half, helping SSU take as much as a 57-46 lead midway through the second half of competition.
Johnson, meanwhile, had just four points through the first 38 minutes of Saturday's contest -- but that all changed over the final 12 minutes between regulation and the two overtime sessions. Johnson hit a three-pointer with 1:32 left in regulation to tie the score at 63 apiece, then hit a layup with 2:48 to play in overtime to tie the score at 65 points apiece and knocked down a three-pointer with 52 seconds left in the first overtime to put SSU ahead by a 70-68 margin.
Dawson notched 13 points on 5-of-7 shooting from the field and a 3-of-4 mark from three-point range while Johnson ultimately finished with 12 points and seven rebounds.
Harris the Showman
While Chaze Harris' shot wasn't falling at the rate that the sophomore has been accustomed to, his productivity was evident in multiple areas of the box score.
In addition to his 15 points, Harris finished with seven rebounds, five steals and four assists in the five-point victory. The 6-5 wing's five steals and four assists were game-highs and Harris was the only player to notch more than three steals and two assists of any player in the entire contest. His seven rebounds matched Johnson's total for second-best on the squad.
Additional
AJ Belton again brought the lunch pail for Shawnee State as his team-high 10 rebounds were a critical component in SSU's victory over Rio Grande, while Keith Germain, Tony Webb, Jr. and Elkin Ramirez combined for 13 bench points with Germain notching six points, five rebounds and three blocks and Webb, Jr. scoring a big low post bucket to put SSU up 75-72 with 2:38 to play in the second overtime session.
With the win, Shawnee State clinched a No. 3 overall seed in the River States Conference Tournament as well as a home game to boot against No. 6 Ohio Christian. That contest will be played Wednesday, Feb. 28 at 7:30 p.m.
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