SSU drops 81-78 heartbreaker to Madonna in second round of NAIA Tournament; Dawson, Germain close out collegiate careers
| Final | 1 | 2 | T | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
|
Shawnee State (21-10, 13-4) | 38 | 40 | 78 |
|
Madonna (27-6, 19-3) | 46 | 35 | 81 |
It's always tough to see a season end for any coach.
However, the Shawnee State men's basketball program went out fighting.
And at the end of the day, that's all a coach can ask for.
Down by a 52-38 margin with 17:46 to play in the second half of competition, Michael Hunter's group went to work as No. 13-seeded SSU not only completely erased the 14-point lead that No. 5-seeded Madonna had, but took a six-point lead as Shawnee State collected a 75-69 advantage with 4:49 to play in the contest.
However, a game-ending 12-3 run by Madonna resulted in the Bears dropping Saturday's go-or-go-home battle to the Crusaders, 81-78, at the Alliance Catholic Credit Union Arena at the Performing Arts, Athletics and Activities Center in Livonia, Mich.
Throughout the game, Shawnee State performed well, shooting 46.4 percent from the field (26-of-56) and 46.2 percent from deep (12-of-26) and collecting its 26 made baskets on 15 assists while holding its turnovers down to a respectable 11.
The story, however, wasn't about what SSU did wrong but what Madonna did right, as the Crusaders shot 31-of-55 (56.4 percent) from the floor for the contest.
Johnson showcases reliability
From beginning to end, Shawnee State junior guard Tyreke Johnson was reliable. The 6-6 guard from Woodstock, Ga. was big especially at the beginning of the contest, posting eight of his 13 points in the first half -- five of those coming as Shawnee State rallied from a 20-12 deficit to take a 22-20 lead with 9:49 to play in the opening half.
Johnson ultimately posted his 13 points on 5-of-11 shooting from the field and a 2-of-3 mark from three-point range, while adding in six rebounds and a game-high five assists to boot while playing all 40 minutes Saturday.
Johnson finished the season averaging 15 points, 6.2 rebounds, three assists and 1.1 steals per game on 45.9 percent shooting and an 81.8 percent clip from the charity stripe.
Passion the name of Harris' game
Playing with the fire and competitiveness that makes the sophomore a unique talent, Shawnee State sophomore wing Chaze Harris was also integral to the Bears staying within striking range of Madonna in the first half of competition.
The 6-5 multi-positional talent ultimately posted 14 points, six rebounds and two steals in the first half, with his back-to-back layups in traffic, the latter the aforementioned and-one with 9:49 to play in the opening half of play, giving the Bears its first lead of the game at 22-20.
Harris was limited to just 23 minutes after picking up his fourth foul with 17:46 to play, but still finished with 16 points, six rebounds and two steals on 5-of-11 shooting and a 5-of-5 mark from the free throw line despite this fact.
Finishing with one of the best individual seasons for a backcourt talent in school history, Harris notched 19.4 points, 6.6 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 2.4 steals on 57.1 percent shooting. The Cleveland native led Shawnee State in points, rebounds, assists and steals and finished second on the unit in field goal percentage.
Beard, Dawson draw SSU back
After Madonna opened up its advantage to a 52-38 count at that mark of time following Harris' fourth foul, Shawnee State senior guard John Dawson and Shawnee State junior guard Tre Beard put the offensive load on their backs.
In an incredible turn of events, the duo, from the 15:37 to 8:41 marks of the second half, combined for 17 of Shawnee State's 22 points during that stretch of time, turning the 14-point deficit into a 64-63 advantage for the Bears. When Madonna kept answering every SSU salvo to knot the score at 69 apiece, Dawson answered with a flurry, knocking down back-to-back three-pointers in a 51-second span to give Shawnee State its largest lead at 75-69 with 4:49 to go.
In one of the most impressive seasons of individual shooting in school history, Beard rose his points per game average to 12.7 while shooting 48.3 percent from the field and finishing the year with a 50.3 percent three-point shooting mark from deep. Beard also shot 90.3 percent from the free throw line to boot. The junior guard finished by going 4-of-9 from the field and 4-of-8 from the three-point line, notching 18 points, three rebounds and three assists in the contest.
Dawson, meanwhile, finished with 17 points, just one point off of his season-high, while going 6-of-12 from the field and 5-of-11 from three-point range. Dawson's three-quarters court heave at the buzzer was perfectly on target but fell just short.
Senior farewell
In addition to Dawson, Keith Germain, a First-Team All-RSC talent alongside Chaze Harris, finished with eight points and two rebounds on 4-of-5 shooting.
Both players combined to appear in 60 out of a possible 61 games between them and offered not only positional versatility with Dawson's ability to handle and shoot the basketball and Germain's ability to attack the glass, finish at the rim and match up with larger defenders. They each took on roles that featured both either starting in a primary role or coming off of the bench as one of the unit's first options.
Germain finished his career as a two-time All-RSC honoree while Dawson scored in double-figures in four of his final six games as both players' mature approach to the game were critical in Shawnee State's successful run to the second round as well as a 21-10 campaign -- the third-best mark in terms of winning percentage among any unit in program history.
Additional
In addition to Beard, Harris and Johnson, Shawnee State junior guard Elkin Ramirez, Shawnee State junior forward J.R. Lumsden, Shawnee State junior forward AJ Belton, Shawnee State sophomore guard Feisal Crumby III, Shawnee State sophomore wing EJ Hubbert, Shawnee State freshman forward Tony Webb, Jr., Shawnee State freshman forward Damon Charles and Shawnee State freshman guard Landon Ray all have eligibility left for future iterations of the SSU men's basketball program.
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