Jeremy Pope hit a three-pointer as time expired in overtime to lift Goshen to an 87-84 victory over Denison University on the second day of Sodexo Classic hosted by Hanover College on Saturday afternoon.
The first half was a tightly contested session which saw the Maple Leafs go up by as many as eight points. Facing a 28-20 deficit, the Big Red went on an 11-3 run to tie the game at 31-31 with 5:14 left in the opening frame. Senior Chris Luther (Dayton, Ohio/Oakwood) paced the charge with five points, while junior Larry Farmer (Gurnee, Ill./Warren Township) knocked down a pair of free throws to knot the score. However, Goshen responded with a 7-1 run to take a 38-32 lead into the half.
The Leafs continued to add to their lead in the opening portion of the second half, and eventually built up a 50-38 advantage.
Down by 12 points, DU outscored Goshen 23-9 over a six minute span to take their first lead of the game. Denison's offensive burst was capped off by a layup by sophomore Mike Garabedian (La Grange, Ill./Nazareth Academy) gave the Big Red a 61-59 edge.
After the Maple Leafs tied the game on the ensuing possession, Denison ripped off seven unanswered points to take their largest lead of the night (68-61).
Goshen was able to trim the deficit to two (76-74) after a layup by Kyle Davis with 1:32 left in regulation. With three second left in the second half, Luther hit one of two free throws to give DU a 77-74 lead.
On the inbounds pass, Errick McCollum drew a shooting foul from the opposite free throw line with two seconds on the clock. McCollum sank all three free throws, sending the game into an extra session.
In overtime, Luther scored to give Denison a two-point lead, but the Leafs answered quickly with a layup of their own. McCollum gave Goshen the lead after converting a traditional three-point play with 1:55 left in OT.
Following a layup by first-year Dimonde Hale (Columbus, Ohio/Northland) that trimmed the margin to 82-81, sophomore Josh Leuchtag (Houston, Texas/Lamar) drained a three-pointer from the corner with 32 ticks on the scoreboard.
On the next possession, McCollum drove to the hoop and drew a body foul. McCollum made both shots from the charity stripe to tie the game at 84-all.
With the shot clock off, the Big Red were content to hold the ball for the final shot of overtime. However, the Leafs' defense knocked the ball away and there was a scrum for the loose ball. Pope came out of the pile with the rock, took three dribbles and drained a 25-footer at the buzzer for the win.
Luther led all DU scorers with a career-high 26 points on 11-of-19 from the floor. The senior also recorded four assists, and three rebounds. Garabedian finished the day with 13 points, a team-high six rebounds and a game-high six assists. Hale added a career-high 16 tallies and five rebounds, while Leuchtag chipped in 11 points.
McCollum led all scorers with 28 points, while Butler added 22 tallies and nine boards. Pope finished with 13 points, while Simon Szablicki also grabbed nine rebounds.
Denison shot 58 percent (33-for-57) from the field, including an 18-for-27 (66.7 percent) in the second half. Goshen was 30-of-61 (49.2 percent) from the floor, but converted 25-of-33 (76.5 percent) from the foul line compared to DU's 12-of-29 (63.2 percent) performance from the charity stripe. The Maple Leafs also held a 35-26 edge on the glass.
The Big Red fall to 0-2 on the year, while Goshen improves to 5-2. Denison returns to action on Sunday (Nov. 22) when they take on host Hanover College at 5 p.m.
