MEMPHIS-Christian Brothers University freshman forward
Adam Dieball (Cincinnati, Ohio, Lakota East HS) scored the game-tying basket with 3.9 seconds left to force overtime, then scored nine points in the extra frame to lead the Bucs to a 90-82 overtime win over Union Thursday night.
HOW IT HAPPENED:• The Bulldogs (12-5, 6-5 GSC) jumped to a quick 8-2 lead over the first two minutes, but the Bucs (8-9, 6-5) worked their way back into the game with a 10-3 burst capped by an
Alex Trentman (Alexandria, Ky./Bishop Brossart HS) triple that gave them a 14-13 edge with 13:56 remaining in the first half.
• CBU closed the half with a 7-2 burst to take a 37-30 lead o a pair of
Cody Garbuzinski (Memphis, Tenn./Christian Brothers HS) free throws.
• The Bucs appeared to put the game away midway through the second half as
Jordan Miller (Fulton, Ky./Fulton City HS) scored six straight points during a 17-7 burst that left the Bucs ahead 62-47 on a
Jeff Larkin (Cincinnati, Ohio/La Salle HS) three-point play with 8:41 remaining.
• The Bulldogs answered with a 25-10 run, tying the game at 72 on a Roy Bullock three-point play with 2:27 remaining.
• After the teams traded buckets, Marterrace Brock gave the Bulldogs a 76-74 edge when he knocked down a 17-footer from the left wing with 18.9 seconds remaining. After calling a timeout, the Bucs found Dieball, who drove for the tying layup with 3.9 seconds to play, forcing overtime.
• In the overtime, Dieball won the tipoff and scored a layup on the first possession. After
Drew Hildreth (Memphis, Tenn./Bolton HS) scored on a tip-in off Dieball's lone miss of the overtime, Dieball knocked down a jumper and then a three-pointer to give the Bucs an 85-78 lead with 1:53 remaining in overtime, and the Bucs never allowed Union closer than five points again.
KEY STATS:• Hildreth led the Bucs with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
• Larkin scored 18 with four assists and two steals.
• Dieball scored 16 with seven assists and two steals as he was limited to 27 minutes due to foul trouble.
• Miller added 15 with two blocks in 18 minutes off the bench.
• Trentman added 10 points, eight rebounds and three assists.
• The Bucs shot 47.1 percent (33-of-70) for the game, including 40.7 percent (11-of-27) from three-point range.
• Union was 46.8 percent (29-of-62) overall and 33.3 percent (7-of-21) from beyond the arc.
• CBU out-rebounded Union 38-34, including an 11-8 edge in offensive rebounds, and they forced 10 Union turnovers while committing seven against 21 assists.
COACH MIKE NIENABER'S THOUGHTS:"I'm as proud of this team right now as I've been of a team in a long time. We talked about it before the game, you get in a game like that and you've gotta step up and make plays. And did we have a freshman step up and make plays tonight."
"Jordan Miller was just unbelievable. He's been struggling, and he hasn't been playing much. I told our coaches, we have to play Jordan more. We were putting Jordan into a little bit of a slump, because Adam's been so hot and we got a little greedy taking minutes from Jordan to play Adam more. The other thing that's happened, teams have gotten so geared up to guard Adam and going at him, Jordan's getting some room to operate. You combine those two and you've got 31 points from your freshman and sophomore centers. At some point we're going to have to find a way to go twin towers a little more."
"The other thing I told our guys in the locker room, everybody that played gave us quality contributions tonight."
"If you look at our recent good years, we've always been a team where our assist to turnovers is like that. We've always been a team that has a high number of assists and that's been missing. As young players get more comfortable in the offense and what we're doing, hopefully we're going to start seeing that come up and be more frequent."
"That's the kind of game, frankly, you expect a young team to lose. They got up early and I said that was a little on me, we were fooling around with that zone and they got a couple of wide open threes and got up 8-2. We fought back and got a little bit of control."
"We talked about it before the overtime, saying hey guys, the defense let us down for the last 7 or 8 minutes. We've got to find it for the last five. And I felt like the one thing we did a better job at the end was packing in and giving each other support."
WHAT'S NEXT:The Bucs return to action Thursday night as they visit Shorter at 7 p.m. Their next home game is set for Thursday, Jan. 28, at 7 p.m. as they host Mississippi College.
