SSU MBB, Indiana-Southeast engage in classic overtime battle as Bears' furious comeback falls just short, 95-92

PORTSMOUTH, Ohio -- In a contest that failed to disappoint, the men's basketball program gave the near capacity crowd at Shawnee State University's Waller Gymnasium plenty to cheer for in a Wednesday evening River States Conference Quarterfinal thriller.

Down by an 84-75 margin with 1:11 to play in regulation, the No. 1-seeded Shawnee State men's basketball proceeded to rally back against No. 4-seeded Indiana-Southeast as the Bears staged a frantic and electric nine-point rally over the final 71 seconds of the second half to force overtime -- then rallied from five points back in the first overtime to have an opportunity to send the contest to a second overtime.

Two three-point opportunities by Shawnee State, however, glanced off of the rim -- as the Bears ultimately dropped a 95-92 overtime setback to the Grenadiers Wednesday evening at Waller Gymnasium in Portsmouth.

Game Summary

In the overtime thriller, Shawnee State canned 51.6 percent of its shots from the field -- going 32-of-62 from the floor -- while adding in a 13-of-26 mark from three-point range (50 percent) from distance as the Bears were, again, stout offensively -- notching 23 assists to just nine turnovers as a team en route to a 2.6-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio. However, Indiana-Southeast shot 36-of-63 (57.1 percent) from the floor and went 10-of-18 from three-point range, with the Grenadiers also nabbing a plus-15 rebounding advantage (40-25) to boot in addition to Indiana-Southeast's high-level shooting.

Beard, Gardner provide usual energy

Having consistently been a factor all year throughout their time in the Shawnee State lineup, graduate student guards Tre Beard and Cory Gardner were electric once again through Wednesday's contest.

Cory Gardner

From the outset, Gardner was locked in -- as the Owensboro, Ky. native scored or assisted on nine of Shawnee State's first 12 points to give the Bears a 12-4 lead to start the River States Conference Quarterfinal, then scored eight points and notched two assists and a steal over the final 5:17 of the first half to help Shawnee State take a 47-39 halftime lead -- as Gardner ultimately went 6-of-8 from the field en route to notching 15 points and three assists in the opening half of competition.

In the second stanza, Gardner scored six points in the first nine minutes of the second half, then played the role of setup man over a six-and-a-half minute stretch, collecting three assists within that span of time to help the Bears stay in the fight throughout.

With less than 20 seconds left in regulation, it was Gardner's backcourt steal of a mishandled ball by Xavier Price that allowed Shawnee State to tie the score and send the contest to overtime -- as the steal ultimately led to AJ Belton's layup off of the glass with 12 seconds left in regulation.

For the contest, Gardner ultimately posted another efficient statline, posting 25 points, seven assists and three steals on 10-of-14 shooting from the floor and 3-of-3 from three-point range. Shawnee State went 11-4 in the contests that Gardner appeared in during the regular season and River States Conference Tournament play, with the talented guard averaging 17 points, 5.2 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 2.4 steals per contest on 58.1 percent shooting from the field and 50 percent shooting from three-point range.

Tre Beard

As for the man they call 'The Mayor,' Beard put on a terrific display while playing in each of the contest's 45 minutes Wednesday evening. Recognizing that his teammates were hot early, Beard played the primary setup role as the graduate student nabbed eight assists to just one turnover in the opening half alone while canning two open three-point field goals and knocking down a pair of free throws, as well.

Then, in winning time, Beard stepped up in a big way -- scoring seven of his 10 second half in the final 55 seconds of regulation in an incredible display where the Chillicothe High School graduate canned two long-distance three-pointers, including an incredible four-point play with 41 ticks left that brought the Bears within 84-82 as Beard hung, was fouled by Indiana-Southeast's Xavier Price, and hit a 27-foot three-pointer from the right wing to send the Shawnee State crowd into delirium.

Beard ultimately finished with 18 points, a team-high nine assists and two steals while going 5-of-8 from three-point range and 3-of-3 from the free throw line. The contest marked the 16th time in 29 games this season where the graduate student played every minute of the contest.

Between regular season and River States Conference Tournament play, Beard posted averages of 19.1 points, 3.7 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 1.3 steals on 49.5 percent shooting and a 47.7 percent clip from three-point range while dropping in 241 career three-point field goals during his time at Shawnee State. His 91.5 percent free throw shooting mark for the 2024-25 campaign is an all-time program record for a single season.

Belton comes up big in clutch moments

In 34 big minutes off of the bench, AJ Belton not only provided key hustle but supplied critical buckets throughout the course of the game.

Belton, who led all bench scorers on both sides with 15 points, scored a halftime buzzer-beating layup to put Shawnee State ahead by a 47-39 margin at the break, then supplied nine of his 15 points in the second half and overtime periods, scoring five of Shawnee State's first seven points to begin the second half and then hitting the aforementioned game-tying layup that completed Shawnee State's nine-point comeback in regulation to force overtime play.

Shawnee State sends out five seniors

Between Belton, Beard, Gardner and key role players Elkin Ramirez and Feisal Crumby III, the Shawnee State men's basketball program extended its winning record in the regular season to six consecutive games. Belton, Beard, Ramirez and Crumby III combined to go 37-23 together over the past two seasons while Gardner helped Shawnee State win 10 out of its last 12 regular season games during the 2024-25 campaign en route to a River States Conference East Division crown for the program.

Additional

Donovan Lovelace and Ezra McKee added in 11 points each for Shawnee State, with Lovelace adding in seven rebounds -- as Lovelace and McKee joined Beard, Belton and Gardner in double-figures.

Shawnee State finished regular season and River States Conference Tournament action 16-13 overall.