This was a great, great basketball game. Ill take this game over any over-hyped, commercial-bloated, nationally-televised shooting match between big-school basketball factories any day to explain what college athletics are truly all about. Had the Titans managed to pull this one out, I would have ranked it among my all-time favorite regular-season victories in all my years following them - even before it went into three overtimes. To say the least, I had never supposed that this team, this season, especially in the wake of the heartbreaking loss to Toledo the night before, would be able to withstand an 18-0 second-half run and come back to win...but they very nearly did so. As it is, it goes into the books as another gut-wrenching loss, but a game I will never forget, and a game that I think Ray McCallum and staff will consider to have been far more revealing of this teams character and, in the long run, far more beneficial to its future than a comfortable win would have been. Detroit has played Toledo, which is 6-0, and Connecticut, which is Connecticut, so far this season - but in my opinion Stony Brook has been the Titans most impressive opponent to date. Like Detroit, they were playing their third game in three days, but I was floored by the crispness and precision of their cuts and the alertness of their defensive rotations. Detroit was up by twelve late in the first half, and the Seawolves could have let down, but they didnt. Three of their top eight players fouled out, and Detroit received the benefit, at least to my eyes, of a pair of critical non-calls in big late-game situations. But the Seawolves werent out there looking for reasons to justify losing. Their focus, particularly as the visiting team on the back end of a three-day marathon, was remarkable. Their victory was richly deserved. Obviously its hard, after a tough loss, to put on a happy face and point out positives, but there were so many tonight for Detroit. This was just one of those games that someone had to lose; as it was, Detroit came within a split second of forcing a fourth overtime, but Evan Bruinsma grabbed a loose ball just a hairs-breadth too late for what would have been a game-tying stickback. Bruinsma (thats him in the picture), who had struggled badly to this point in the season, took the team on his back today. He fought for every point, dove and hustled for every loose ball on both ends of the floor, and made his free throws (he was 20 of 22 from the line), even late in the game when he was visibly gassed; by the time overtime rolled around, this gangly 68 power forward was even directing the offense at times. Broadcaster Dan York put it best: He really came of age today. Juwan Howard and Carlton Brundidge made some big, tightly contested shots, and Matt Grant, despite a couple of critical late mistakes (which I know will haunt him; he is his own worst critic, on the evidence), played well. But Id also like to give credit to backup center/forward Jermaine Lippert. Lippert will never be the most talented guy on any court, and his contributions to this game (aside from a huge late-game offensive rebound that led to an extra possession and points) wont show up on the stat sheet - but he came in at the tail end of Stony Brooks 18-0 run, when the Titans looked dead in the water, and woke up the rest of the team with his energy and hustle. If not for him, I believe Stony Brook would have gone on to win this one going away - no overtime necessary.
Posted on: Mon, 25 Nov 2013 01:04:01 +0000
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