Men's Basketball Final Shot: March 23

Men’s Basketball Scoreboard (March 23)
CIT – Canisius 84, Youngstown State 82 (ot)
CIT – Northern Iowa 63, UIC 51

After each notched their respective program’s first Division I postseason victories earlier in the week, Youngstown State and UIC each bowed out of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament in the second round, suffering tough losses to Canisius and Northern Iowa, respectively.

CIT – Canisius, 84, Youngstown State 82 (ot)
Youngstown State suffered a tough loss to end the season, dropping an 84-82 overtime decision to Canisius on Saturday night in a second-round CollegeInsider.com Tournament game at the Beeghly Center.

The Penguins held a 22-point lead early in the second half only to watch it evaporate when the Golden Griffins scored 20 unanswered points during one stretch. From that point it was nip-and-tuck.

The Guins (18-16) led 53-31 with 18 minutes remaining before Canisius cut the large deficit to 53-51 by the the 11:23 mark. During the stretch, YSU missed seven field-goal attempts, five of which came beyond the 3-point arc, and turned the ball over six times.

The scoring drought finally ended when DJ Cole converted a free throw at the 11:08 mark. Kamren Belin ended the run of seven missed shots by draining a 3-pointer.

The Golden Griffins (20-13) finally tied the contest at 60 with 7:36 left on a 3-pointer by Alshwan Hymes. YSU went on to push the lead back to seven at 69-62 with 5:01 remaining and tried to hang on, but Billy Baron's long 3-pointer following an offensive rebound tied the game at 73 with 50.5 seconds remaining.

Blake Allen attempted an off-balance 3-pointer with 36 seconds left, setting up Canisius for a possible win in regulation. The Penguins defense held to force the extra session.

In overtime, Kendrick Perry scored seven of YSU's nine points, but it turned out not to be enough.

After not leading at all in regulation, Canisius took its first lead of the game with 2:28 left in overtime when Heath Jordan split a pair of free throws. YSU regained the lead as Perry drove the hoop to convert a layup at the 1:35 mark, but a Canisius free throw tied the contest again at 80.

Two Canisius free throws and a driving layup by Eargle tied the contest with 28 seconds left. However, with 2.1 seconds left, Baron was fouled by Cole on a 3-point attempt. He missed the first before knocking down the next two.

Perry tried a desparation shot from beyond half court, but it was off the mark.

For the contest, Allen led the way with 27 points while Perry had 20. Belin and Eargle both finished with 14 points and 11 rebounds in a losing effort. Allen was 10-of-18 from the field and 7-of-12 from behind the 3-point arc.

Baron finished with 30 points for the night while Hymes had 19 off the bench.

YSU ended the game shooting 44.6 percent (29-of-65), including 15-of-34 from behind the 3-point arc. Canisius was 28-of-75 (37.3 percent) and made 10 3-pointers. The Golden Griffins only had six turnovers in the contest.

In the first half the Penguins continued to have the hot hand with a carry over from their victory over Oakland. YSU made 18-of-35 shots (51.4 percent), including 9-of-16 from beyond the 3-point arc (56.3 percent).

Canisius was 10-of-35 in the first half, with 11 misses coming from behind the arc.

The game was tied at two early before the Guins used a 9-2 spurt to take a 11-4 advantage.

Leading 11-7, YSU scored the next eight points to extend the advantage to 19-7. Eventually Canisius pulled within 25-24 with 6:44 left in the half.

Then the Guins went on their major run closing the half by scoring 20 of the final 24 points, including 11 consecutive at one time. YSU led 45-28 at the break before scoring the first five of the second half to go ahead by 22 at 50-38.

Northern Iowa 63, UIC 51
UIC stifled host Northern Iowa to just a 37.0 percent shooting effort, but the Panthers broke a 41-41 tie with a 23-10 run and defeated the Flames, 63-51, in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Tournament at the McLeod Center Saturday night.  The loss ends UIC’s record-setting season with 18 wins, the most since 2007-08.

With the setback, UIC (18-16) was eliminated from the 2013 CIT, ending the Flames’ first postseason run since 2004. UNI improved to 20-14 on the season, and moved onto the CIT’s Round of 8.    

In his final game at UIC, senior center Josh Crittle was just one rebound shy of a double-double, scoring a team-high 12 points to go along with nine rebounds.  Senior guard Daniel Barnes chipped in 10 points on four field goals.  UNI was paced by leading scorer Anthony James, who scored 17 points on 5-of-10 shooting.

UNI led 25-24 at halftime, after the Flames held the Panthers to just a 33.3 percent (10-30) effort from the floor.  The Panthers led 22-15 with 5:38 remaining, but UIC finished the frame on a 9-4 spurt to pull within one possession.  Barnes’ drive and finish with 2:09 left completed the scoring in the opening half.

Crittle and junior forward Hayden Humes combined for five quick points in the opening 4:13 of the second half, helping the Flames claim a 29-28 lead at the first media timeout (15:02).  UIC led three times in the ensuing seven minutes, and owned a 41-38 advantage with 8:42 remaining after a three-pointer by senior point guard Gary Talton.

UNI tied the game, 41-41. with a three on the ensuing possession, and took a 43-41 lead coming out of the under-8 media timeout (7:39) after a pair of free throws by James.  The Panthers never relinquished the lead down the stretch, but UIC was within just five, 51-46, with 3:16 remaining.  UNI went 7-for-8 from the charity stripe in the final 1:44 to push the final margin to double digits.