Senior Staff Writer
Not one, not two, not three but four overtimes were needed to decide a winner between top-seeded CSU Bakersfield and fourth-seeded Utah Valley University Friday, March 10 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas.
In the first quadruple-overtime finish in Western Athletic Conference tournament history, the CSUB men’s basketball team escaped a potential upset as it beat UVU 81-80 in the semifinals of the tournament.
“We grinded it out,” said redshirt-senior forward Jaylin Airington. “We were pitbulls out there. I’m just [at a] loss for words, and I’m just happy we got the win. There’s unfinished business. We got one [game] tomorrow, another 40 minutes. We just got to take care of business tomorrow and see where we’re at.”
The Roadrunners had to battle back from a 49-41 deficit with 2:41 left in the game to even get them in the first overtime period.
Airington scored the last 11 points in regulation to force the game into the first overtime period.
“I was just trusting the process, trusting and believing in Coach Barnes,” said Airington. “He put me in a situation to score the ball and they got me the ball. I just didn’t want to go out like that.”
UVU had two opportunities to win the game in the first overtime as redshirt-senior guard Jordan Poydras missed a three-point jumper that was rebounded by sophomore guard Hayden Schenck.
Photo by AJ Alvarado/The Runner
Schenck shot the ball but missed his opportunity to end the game.
With less than five seconds to go in the second overtime, Airington inbounded the ball to redshirt-junior guard Brent Wrapp.
Wrapp ran down the court and found an open Airington who took the three-point shot to win. Airington’s shot bounced off the rim, onto the backboard and off the rim again to send it to a third overtime.
In the third overtime, CSUB took a 71-69 lead thanks to a layup from junior swingman Shon Briggs with 1:05 left in the period.
Just seconds later, the Roadrunners had a chance to add to the lead with Wrapp at the charity stripe. However, Wrapp was only able to convert on one of two free throws with 35 seconds remaining.
That miss gave the Wolverines a chance to tie the game, which they did with a three-point play from senior guard Ivory Young.
With only 25 seconds remaining, CSUB senior Dedrick Basile, who had his share of clutch moments in last year’s tournament, had another opportunity to give the Roadrunners another big win.
Basile drove down the lane and pulled up for a 15-foot jumper that bounced off the front of the rim and out.
The game went into the record fourth overtime, and the Roadrunners were without Airington, who fouled out in the third overtime.
They were also without Briggs, who fouled out in the same period, and without redshirt-senior starter Matt Smith, who fouled out in the first OT.
“We played those guys earlier in the year, so we didn’t have guys that hadn’t been on the floor for us” said CSUB coach Rod Barnes. “We were prepared for it.”
CSUB found itself trailing 76-74 with 3:24 left, before redshirt-sophomore guard Damiyne Durham hit a three-pointer to give the Roadrunners a 77-76 lead.
The two teams traded leads in the fourth extra period, until the 1:35 mark, when CSUB junior center Fallou Ndoye scored a layup.
Those were Ndoye’s first two points of the game, to give the Roadrunners an 81-78 lead.
UVU answered back as senior center Andrew Bastien scored a layup to cut the lead to 81-80.
UVU had one more chance to win the game as Young drove past two CSUB defenders but missed a layup that was contested by CSUB junior center Moataz Aly.
Aly grabbed the rebound and was fouled. Aly missed his two free throws. However, with 0.7 seconds left on the clock, UVU inbounded the ball but did not get a shot off in time.
“We are a gritty team,” said Airington “We never doubted us, we never doubted what we can do, and I’m just happy we pulled through.”
Airington finished with a game-high 22 points. Basile added 18 points and Smith scored 14 for the Roadrunners
UVU’s 28 turnovers in the game is the most in WAC tournament history. Another WAC tournament record is the 32 made free throws and 45 free throws attempted by CSUB.
This is also the second time CSUB has gone to a four-overtime game. On Nov. 14, 2014 CSUB lost to High Point University in a four-overtime thriller, 100-99.
CSUB is scheduled to play in the WAC championship game against second-seeded New Mexico State University Saturday, March 10 at 8 p.m. in the Orleans Arena.
Last year, the Roadrunners beat the Aggies 57-54 in the championship game.
The Aggies beat third-seeded University of Missouri-Kansas City 78-60 in the semifinals Friday.
“We got 40 minutes away before we make history, so nobody really cares how many overtimes we played,” said Smith. “Whoever we play against, they don’t really care about that. All the aches, pains and bruises and stuff like that, nobody cares. We gotta go out there and get it done.”
Barnes said the team will be ready for its game against the Aggies.
“We believe mind over matter,” he said. “We’ve been built for this, so we’ll be fine.”
