Salem, Va. – The Springfield College men’s basketball team was held to just five points in overtime, as its magical postseason run came to an end with a loss in the national semifinals to Nebraksa-Wesleyan, 90-78, on Friday night.
“Any time you get into an overtime game it’s highly competitive,” Springfield coach Charlie Brock said. “I think we could have done some things better, and hats off to them.”
With 1 minute, 11 seconds remaining in regulation, senior Andy McNulty approached the foul line for a 1-and-1 with a 73-68 lead. His shot went off the back iron, and the Praire Dogs converted two out of three foul shots on the next possession to cut the Pride’s lead to three.
Next, former Northampton high school standout Jake Ross approached the line for another 1-and-1. His shot bounced off the front of the rim and Nebraska-Wesleyan secured the rebound. In the ensuing offensive possession, Ryan Garver converted a 3-point play to tie the game at 73.
Springfield got the ball back and quickly called a timeout with 29.7 seconds remaining. McNulty got the ball off the inbound and handed it over to Ross, who was preparing to take the last shot. With the shot clock winding down, Ross was swarmed by defenders and did not get the shot off in time resulting in a shot clock violation.
Although Nebraska Wesleyan did not convert the game-winning shot with 3.7 seconds left, there was a huge momentum shift in favor of the Praire Dogs heading in to the overtime period.
“We looked for a ball screen on the side with Jake and Andy on the weak side. We didn’t get off the screen the way we would have liked and (Nebraska-Wesleyan) cut off a couple of lanes,” Brock said.
Springfield held a steady lead heading into the latter part of the second half, but allowed multiple second-chance opportunities that allowed Nebraska-Wesleyan to crawl back into the game and force overtime.
“They got 19 (offensive rebounds) on the game. We gave up 15 offensive rebounds in the second half. That certainly was a factor,” said Brock.
The loss marks the end of Springfield’s postseason run. It made its first ever appearance in the Final Four, being led in large parts by Ross. He paced the offense in this game with 21 points, seven assists and nine rebounds on 9-for-17 shooting from the field.
“Going into the conference, you don’t really think about being here,” Ross said. “Obviously we wanted to be playing tomorrow, but it’s been one heck of a run.”
Additionally, Cam Earle finished with 15 points and five rebounds. After going 0-6 from behind the arc in the first half, the junior hit five in the second half, including clutch shots to help retain the lead.
“I asked him if he wanted me to have him stop shooting and he said he didn’t want to and I wasn’t about to,” Brock said. “It didn’t bother me at all. I knew he was going to come back and have a great second half.”
Looking ahead for next year, Ross is prepared to fill a leadership role on the team.
“I think we learned a lot from the senior class. Them leaving, guys are gonna have to step up and take different roles. I think it’s going to be pretty cool to see how next year goes.”