PORTSMOUTH, Ohio – Campbellsville University men's basketball team made their way to Shawnee State to face the Bears Monday night. The Tigers took a tough loss of 98-92 in double overtime.
The first half had the Tigers and the Bears trading blows to kick things off. When one team would make a small run, the other would respond with one of their own. After trading leads for the opening ten minutes, Campbellsville went over five minutes without a basket while Shawnee State added 15 to the scoreboard. Before the buzzer sounded for halftime,
Malachi De Sousa used his physicality to get himself to the paint where he would convert or be sent to the line where he was converting his free throws. A
Cameron Carmical three brought things back to only a six-point game with a minute left in the first half but Shawnee State would sneak in layup before the horn to go into the locker room 33-25.
Both teams struggled from the field in the opening half with the Tigers shooting 40% from the field and 12.5% from three (only going 1-8 from distance) while the Bears shot 37.8% and made three threes to record 27.3% beyond the perimeter. The difference in the game up to that point truly was points off turnovers with Campbellsville posting none and Shawnee State with seven. Also, the Bears brought in 6 offensive rebounds extending the life of their possessions and contributing to Shawnee State putting up 12 more shots from the field than the Tigers.
De Sousa began the second half by capitalizing off a forced turnover to finish with a layup. This layup earned De Sousa and the Tigers a chance at the charity stripe. The Bears countered this advance by scoring for the first time since four minutes remained in the first half.
Jace Wallace's shot from the arc set Campbellsville to trail Shawnee by two-points. A big bucket from
Jarius Key earned a foul which led to a true free-throw. These major baskets even the score at 42. The tie didn't last long as the Bears made their way back to a six-point lead. A five-point run made by Wallace led the Tigers to a one-point deficit. De Sousa's basket in the low post put Campbellsville in the lead. One minute remained as the Bears tied the game at 69. 11 seconds dwindled as Campbellsville attempted to get a buzzer beater shot, but the attempt was unsuccessful and the Tigers went into overtime with the Bears.
Overtime began with Shawnee State going to the hole with back-to-back layups.
Sam Weining appeared at the line for a pair of free throws to put the Tigers down by three. As the Bears took the lead, Tigers were unable to make a shot or use rebounds in their favor. Campbellsville stood at 4 of 18 from the arc until De Sousa swished one from deep. As 23 seconds remained,
Keaston Brown went coast-to-coast to decrease the deficit to three-points. Wallace's tie-up bucket set the Tigers at 83-83 with one second left on the clock. The game would go into double overtime Campbellsville's third double overtime game of the season.
The second overtime saw Shawnee taking the quick lead. Brown answered the discrepancy with a bucket of his own. Then, Harding's unguarded layup put Campbellsville back to a two-possession ballgame. Harding took a big shot from the perimeter to have the Tigers trail by three. Despite this, key made free throws and a costly turnover decided the game in the Bears' favor. Although great efforts were made, Campbellsville was unable to win it in a final score of 98-92.
The Bears capitalized from their ample number of rebounds (56) as Campbellsville finished the night with 37. Shawnee racked up 22 second chance points in comparison to the five for the Tigers. De Sousa set his season-high and led the Tigers with 24 points, Wallace followed with 20 points, and Key tallied 15 points. Wallace finished the night with eight rebounds, Key coming in with seven, and Brown collected six rebounds.
The Tigers match-up next against University of the Cumberlands in a home contest. This Mid-South competition will be held on Thursday at 8 p.m. ET.
