Cos calls game: Vazquez's three-pointer sinks Eagles, leads Bears to thrilling 77-76 victory

MIDWAY, Ky. -- Coming into the final 3.4 seconds of regulation and Shawnee State's final offensive possession, Marcos Vazquez hadn't scored.

Vazquez, however, stayed ready for his moment -- and when his opportunity came, the junior guard showcased the very reason why one always stays ready.

As the inbounder on the final possession after a blocked shot by Midway stayed with Shawnee State, Vazquez found well-known three-point sniper Tre Beard on the left wing.

However, in an attempt to not be beat by Beard, both Midway defenders went with Beard as Vazquez curled to the left corner, losing track of the 6-0 junior.

True to form, the man they call "Cos Big Bag" made the Eagles pay dearly.

Beard, who was looking up all the way, swung a pass over the guard from Cleveland -- and without hesistation, Vazquez let a three-ball fly that splashed through the cords at the buzzer, sealing, without question, Shawnee State's most thrilling win of the season as the Bears rallied from a 75-70 deficit with 57 seconds left to stun the Midway Eagles' men's basketball program on Vazquez's game-winning three-pointer that gave SSU a 77-76 victory over Midway Tuesday evening at Marshall Gymnasium in Midway, Ky.

Game Summary

Shawnee State (15-12, 10-5 River States Conference) was held under its shooting percentages as the Bears shot 32-of-71 from the field (45.5 percent) and 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from three-point range, while Midway (9-15, 6-9 River States Conference) shot 29-of-59 from the field (49.2 percent) and 8-of-17 (47.1 percent) from three-point range. SSU was also outrebounded by Midway, 40-35.

The Bears countered those advantages by Midway though -- as the Bears forced the Eagles into 13 turnovers while committing just six themselves. Shawnee State turned that plus turnover margin into a massive 20-4 advantage in points off of turnovers, as Shawnee State, for the fifth consecutive contest, won the turnover battle -- and posted its third consecutive points off of turnovers margin of 10 points or greater in claiming the huge buzzer-beating victory.

Gardner, Saia team up in big opening half

Down by as much as 11 (20-9) to begin the game, Shawnee State grad student Cory Gardner and Shawnee State freshman guard Preston Saia were vital in helping Shawnee State rally back.

Gardner, who matched a team-high with 19 points while going 9-of-18 from the field, went on a personal 7-2 run over Midway's entire group from the 12:07 to the 9:40 marks of the opening half, helping Shawnee State to close within 22-16 at that juncture. The Bears never trailed by more than eight points over the rest of the way.

The Owensboro, Ky. native, who also added in seven rebounds, is now averaging 16.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and four assists on 56.3 percent shooting from the field and 42.1 percent from three-point range this season.

Saia, meanwhile, enjoyed arguably the best performance since Shawnee State's season-opening 103-95 setback to Northwestern Ohio. Needing an additional spark offensively, the freshman from Merrillville, Ind. scored nine of his 11 points in the opening half -- all in a span of 4:52 -- to turn what was a 26-19 deficit before the freshman began his own scoring spark to a 32-30 Shawnee State lead as the freshman's three-pointer with 1:10 to play in the opening half of basketball put SSU ahead for good in the opening half.

Saia added in his second double-figure scoring effort of his career and came within one rebound of a career-high in Shawnee State's one-point victory.

Belton, McKee give Midway's frontline fits

Posting respectable efforts in the opening half themselves, AJ Belton and Ezra McKee spent the entire second half ripping the Midway defensive frontcourt apart on various occasions.

In fact, the duo combined to score 11 of Shawnee State's first 13 points of the second half, helping the Bears take a 47-41 lead with 15:21 to play, then went off again for 10 of Shawnee State's 13 tallies from the 10:14 to 7:10 marks of the second half, allowing Shawnee State to lay stake to a 66-62 advantage with 7:10 to go.

The standout forwards ultimately combined for 35 points, 14 rebounds, four steals and three blocks in the contest while going 15-of-27 from the field and 5-of-7 from the free throw line in a massive effort by the duo -- with McKee posting 16 points and team-highs of 11 rebounds, three steals and two blocks on 7-of-11 shooting and Belton matching Gardner for a team-high with 19 points to go along with three rebounds, a steal and a block.

Beard, Vazquez provide heroics

Despite the efforts of the above quartet, Shawnee State found themselves in a tight spot -- as a 13-4 run by Midway allowed the Eagles to take a 75-70 advantage with less than a minute to play.

The Bears, however, had the answer.

After a Cory Gardner layup through contact with 46 seconds left, Gardner missed the ensuing free throw, but the ball glanced off of Midway and went out of bounds, giving Shawnee State the basketball with a fresh 20-second shot clock.

On the next series, Beard sized up a defender, drove the lane, and drew contact -- hitting the two free throws that the graduate student received to bring Shawnee State within one, 75-74, with 23 seconds to go. The Bears then fouled Midway's Amari Wales -- who went to the free throw line and split his attempts -- and went straightaway from there.

AJ Belton drove inside with less than five seconds left and his shot was rejected, but the denial sailed out of bounds -- giving Beard and Vazquez the opportunity to make the aforementioned magic happen as listed above.

Despite not having his best shooting performance, Beard played a tremendous floor game, posting six assists, three rebounds and a steal -- all without turning the basketball over a single time in the contest. His last assist -- the game-winning dime to Vazquez's textbook trey ball -- was without question the biggest of all 29 total assists amassed by both teams in the contest.

Additional

Damon Charles played seven minutes but had a sizeable impact defensively as the sophomore's two blocks were critical in rim protection, while Feisal Crumby III continued his consistent on-ball hounding in 18 minutes of play, nabbing two points, two assists, a rebound and a steal to round out Shawnee State's winning effort.

With the win, Shawnee State -- because of Indiana-East's 68-66 loss to West Virginia Tech and Rio Grande's 65-62 loss to Alice Lloyd (Ky.), now presently sits in a three-way tie with Alice Lloyd and Rio Grande for the River States Conference's East Division lead.

The Bears will have an opportunity to potentially win the RSC East Division Saturday afternoon as Shawnee State looks to claim a road win over Alice Lloyd (19-7, 10-5 River States Conference) in the regular season finale for both squads.