Goucher Outlasts Greyhounds in Triple Overtime, 91-90
January 11, 2014

Goucher Outlasts Greyhounds in Triple Overtime, 91-90

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men’s basketball team fell to Goucher College, 91-90, in triple overtime on Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.

Box Score

BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The Moravian College men's basketball team fell to Goucher College, 91-90, in triple overtime on Saturday afternoon in Johnston Hall.

The loss marked Moravian's second triple-overtime game in program history. The last came in a 108-102 victory over Widener University on Feb. 15, 2007.

Goucher took the first lead of the third overtime, but junior point guard Izel Dickerson responded just as he did in the second overtime; with a booming three-pointer that shook the stands and tied the game at 86-86. Senior center Blake English would follow with a free throw after a block and a rebound on the other end of the court.

Dickerson stretched the lead to 89-86 with two free throws after missing eight of his first 11 freebies in the marathon game.

Down two with less than five seconds left, Goucher's Troy DeShields completed a three-point play for a 91-90 lead. Dickerson had the ball in his hands for the last shot, but his floater rolled off the rim as Goucher came away with the thrilling marathon victory.

Dickerson finished the game with a team-high 24 points and a career-high six assists. Senior center Cameron Cullen notched his third double-double of the season with 20 points and 11 rebounds, while senior guard Kenny Gula (15 points) and sophomore forward Matt Bosch (13 points) rounded out Moravian's double-digit scorers.

English added nine points, 10 rebounds and five blocks.

"We settled in to being up 11 at halftime rather than playing every possession to win and keeping our foot on the gas," head coach Jim Walker said. "As they fought to get back into the game, the momentum shifted their way. Goucher did a great job of fighting after halftime and working its way back one play at a time. We didn't help ourselves down the stretch, but we can't settle for one good half of basketball; it has to be two halves put together."

The Greyhounds (6-6, 1-2 Landmark) got off to a 10-2 lead with a Cullen jump shot and a 4-of-4 free throw stretch as Goucher missed five out of its first six shots.

Gula then came off the bench to hit a three-pointer on his first touch of the ball for the 14-6 early lead. Gula would add a running floater two minutes later as the Hounds took a 20-12 lead midway through the first half.

Moravian notched its first double-digit lead of the game after back-to-back buckets from Cullen and Bosch. The two teammates followed that with another 4-0 run to take a 30-17 lead with just over six minutes remaining in the opening half.

The Greyhounds found themselves benefitting from the foul bonus with 5:30 left as Gula hit both ends of a one-and-one after a Goucher hand check. The Moravian men finished the first half shooting 67 percent from the free throw line.

The Gophers (7-6, 2-0 Landmark) hung around in the opening 20 minutes thanks to a 52-percent shooting percentage and two second-chance three-point field goals. Bosch was on a mission to hold the lead, however, reaching double-figures in points with 4:47 left.

Cullen closed out the first half with a three-point play right before taking a charge on the other end of the court as the Hounds took a 41-30 lead into the locker room.

Cullen joined Bosch in double-figures early in the second half to help the Hounds maintain an 11-point lead with 14 minutes left. Goucher immediately responded with a 11-0 stint to cut the lead to 49-48. Gula put a halt to the rampant Gopher scoring run with his second trey of the game. Cullen's layup brought the Moravian advantage back to 54-48.

Midway through the second half, Dickerson woke up from a 20-minute scoreless streak. The junior point guard converted a driving layup before getting the steal on the ensuing Gopher possession. Dickerson was fouled hard going to the hoop and made 1-of-2 from the line for a 57-52 Greyhound lead.

The Gophers didn't go away, bringing the deficit down to one point on two separate occasions in the next two minutes. Goucher had a chance to tie, but missed the front end of a one-and-one.

Goucher took its first lead of the game with 3:30 to go with a three-pointer by Julian Livingston, but Gula had the answer with a trey of his own next time down the court to take back the 63-61 lead. The Gophers tied the game for the third time with 1:30 remaining at 63-63.

Dickerson hit his first three-pointer in six tries at the biggest possible moment, with the score knotted at 63 apiece and only one minute showing on the clock. The 66-63 lead would be erased on the next Goucher shot, a Norman Allen II three-pointer and the contests' fourth tie score.

With 37 seconds left, Dickerson was fouled on the drive, but missed both free throws. Goucher took over with a two-second discrepancy between the game clock and shot clock. The Gophers attempted the shot with seven seconds left, but got called for the offensive foul when Dickerson took the charge.

Moravian took the ball over half court and called a timeout with 4.1 ticks left. Cullen took the buzzer-beating attempt just inside the three-point arc, but the ball bounced off the front of the rim.

Dickerson opened the extra period with his second made three-pointer of the game to give his side a 69-66 lead, which was quickly erased by a Goucher three-point play. The Gophers took a 71-69 lead with two minutes remaining in overtime.

After Cullen his 1-of-2 from the line to cut the Goucher lead to one, the Gophers' Brian Morton II matched with 1-of-2 at the other foul line for the 72-70 Gopher lead. Cullen found himself on the line again with 35 seconds left and this time was perfect to tie the score at 72-72.

Goucher had the chance to take the last shot with 24 seconds left and the shot clock turned off. Cullen came up with the rebound with two seconds left and took a timeout, but again fell short on the buzzer-beater from just in front of half court.

Dickerson again fired up an overtime period with a three-pointer to give the Greyhounds a 75-74 lead after Goucher opened with two made free throws.

Junior forward Garrett Kashmer netted his first field goal of the game when Dickerson kicked out a pass at the top of the arc and the junior buried the three-pointer for a 79-76 lead. As they did from 10 minutes to go in regulation on, the Gophers had an answer. This time it was a three-point play by Alex Noble to tie the game.

English took over the final 30 seconds of double-overtime. English came up with two diving offensive rebounds to keep the ball in the hands of the Greyhounds, and he finished off the possession with a fade away jump shot for the 82-80 lead. The Gophers would make two free throws to tie the game for the 10th time.

The Greyhounds received the ball with 2.9 seconds left, but again missed the buzzer-beating attempt.

Goucher won both battles down low with a 49-46 advantage in rebounding and a 46-36 mark in points in the paint.

After shooting 50 percent in the first half, the Greyhounds ended the triple-overtime contest with a .380 mark from the floor. The Gophers also took a dip in shooting percentage, but ended .468 from the floor.

Moravian returns to action on the road for a non-conference contest at Rutgers-Camden on Monday, Jan. 13 at 7:30 p.m. The Greyhounds pick up Landmark Conference play on Wednesday, Jan. 15 when they host Drew University at 7 p.m. in Johnston Hall.