St. Xavier men’s basketball team battled Robert Morris University on Feb. 11. This contest was a nail biter that had to go to triple overtime to be decided. Both teams fought hard to win this one, with St. Xavier being the team to come out on top.
The game started out well for the Cougars, scoring 14 of the first 20 points to take a 14-6 lead within the first five minutes of the game.
But the Eagles would respond, going on an 18-9 run to take the lead from St. Xavier at 24-23 with jus over eight minutes remaining in the first half. Both teams would trade baskets with each other, inevitably being tied at 35-35 with 2:05 left in the first half. A key point in the first half came just seconds later as St. Xavier guard Larry Motuzis got fouled shooting a three pointer resulting in him taking, and making three free throws to give the Cougars a 38-35 lead, and ultimately being the reason why St. Xavier would go into halftime leading 40-37.
At the start of the second half, the Cougars went on a 9-4 run to push their lead to 49-41 within the first four minutes of the second half. The Cougars would keep the Eagles in check for the next few minutes of the game, leading them 63-53 with 10:40 seconds left in the game.
After a timeout by St. Xavier coach Tom O’Malley, the Robert Morris Eagles came soaring back into the game, going on a 19-5 run to take a 72-68 lead in the game with just over three minutes left to play in the game. St. Xavier would not give up though coming back to close the gap to 76-74 with 23 seconds left in the game. Down by two, an unlikely hero in St. Xavier guard Stanley Moore emerged hitting a layup with just 12 seconds left in the game. Robert Morris had one last chance to win the game in regulation but the jumper by Robert Morris’ Jeremy Price was off, forcing the game to go into overtime.
At the beginning of the first overtime, St. Xavier would jump out to an early 86-80 lead with 2:36 left in overtime, making it seem as if St. Xavier would complete the comeback and win the game. But, Robert Morris had other ideas as they would back with a 12-4 run to take a 92-90 lead with 34 seconds left in the first overtime. Again down by two with the ball, St. Xavier’s hero of the game, Stanley Moore, hit another clutch layup to tie the game at 92-92. But with :28 left, Robert Morris still had a chance to send their fans home happy and break the hearts of St. Xavier fans. With three seconds left, Robert Morris’ Alexander Marzette attempted a jumper, but again the Eagles could not capitalize on their opportunity to win the game, allowing the game to go into double overtime.
The second overtime started out differently than the first, with Robert Morris going on a 10-4 run to take a 102-96 lead with just over three minutes left in double overtime. But now it was the Cougars’ turn to answer back and they did just that going on an 11-3 run to take a 107-105 lead with 40 seconds left in double overtime. Down by two in double overtime, Robert Morris needed a hero to extend the game for them just like St. Xavier got from Stanley Moore and they got it in the form of Greg Tucker.
Tucker would make a layup to tie the game at 107-107. With 27 seconds left, the Cougars had the ball with an opportunity to win the game, but could not capitalize as a crazy series of events led to Tucker stealing the ball, missing a layup, Robert Morris’ Greg Travis getting an offensive rebound with a prime opportunity to win the game for them, but he also missed it as time expired and the game headed to triple overtime.
In triple overtime, Robert Morris and St. Xavier would battle, trading the lead with each other throughout the entire period in a battle of wills where the winner would end up being the winner of the game. Up 115-114 with 1:05 left in triple overtime, the Cougars needed one more stop to secure a victory.
They could not get that one more stop at this time as Robert Morris’ Asante Smiter hit a three pointer to give them the lead, 117-115, with 48 seconds left in the game. After a timeout by Robert Morris, coach O’Malley subbed in St. Xavier guard Kyle Huppe into the game, which proved to be a wise move by the 18 year coach as Huppe would get fouled with 30 seconds left and hit both free throws to tie the game at 117-117.
Just when it seemed as if Robert Morris would get the last opportunity to score in this game, the Cougars forced a turnover and got the ball back with no time being wasted on the clock. With the ball in his hands, the game tied, and with everything on the line, Jack Krieger found a way to make this possession count, forcing Robert Morris to foul him with just seven seconds left on the clock.
With the pressure on, Krieger delivered making his first free throw attempt to give the Cougars a 118-117 lead. On his second free throw attempt, he missed. But Stanley Moore, for the third time in the game, made a crucial play by grabbing the missed free throw and holding the ball to let the clock run down to give St. Xavier the win.
Moore and Krieger were the stars of the game. Moore had a double-double in this game with 27 points and 12 rebounds. Krieger scored a game-high 35 points and collected nine rebounds as well.
With the win, the Cougars season record improves to 16-10 with a conference record of 10-6. The win also gives the Cougars their second win in as many games with an opportunity to win a third straight game on Valentine’s Day.
SXU Athletics
On Saturday, Feb 14, the Saint Xavier men’s basketball team battled Trinity International University. This game was a physical, tight game throughout that saw St. Xavier come close to losing the game, but ultimately hung on to preserve the win.
Trinity International started the game on 8-2 run thanks to early success from behind the three point line. The Cougars would respond though, going on a 10-2 run to take the lead at 12-10. From there, these teams would go back and forth with one another, trading bucket after bucket, for the majority of the 1st half. At the end of the first half, St. Xavier found themselves leading, but with the narrowest of margins at 42-40. The half was a very physical one with both teams combining to commit 20 team fouls. Jack Krieger lead the team in scoring with 22 of the team’s 42 first half points.
St. Xavier started out well in the 2nd half, who went on an early 5-1 run to extend their lead to 47-41, but Trinity would come right back, scoring five straight points to close the gap to 47-46. The second half played out much like the first half; both teams competed with each other, played very hard, and traded points with each other.
At one point, it seemed as if this game would come down to whoever had the ball last would win the game. But, unlike in the first half, St. Xavier went on a big run that pushed their lead to a more sizable margin. Up 58-55, the Cougars went on a 13-5 run that put them up 71-60. At this point, it seemed as if Saint Xavier would go on to coast their way to a victory, but it would not happen that way. With 7:37 left in the game, Krieger would commit a hard foul that also resulted in a technical foul being called on him as well which resulted in Trinity International making three out of the four free throws they attempted and cutting their deficit to 73-65. The fouls also resulted in Coach O’Malley to take Krieger out of the game.
As the leader of the men’s team, as well as being their top scorer with 40 points, it seemed as if Trinity International had found a way to get back into the game without him being in the lineup. But the Cougars showed their resilience and determination to no allow this game to be taken from them. The St. Xavier men played tough and dove for loose balls in what was an admirable display of effort. With under 4:00 minutes left in the game, Krieger would come back, with St. Xavier leading 79-69. After a dry spell, Trinity International gave one last attempt to come back with under two minutes left in the game, closing their deficit to 81-76. But thanks to some good, timely free throw shooting, the Cougars would on and win the game 90-80.
Jack Krieger put on a show for those that were in attendance and for those listening to the game on the road, shooting 14-20 from the field to score a spectacular 43 points in the game.
It was a historical performance by Krieger as his 43 points were the highest scored in a game by a Cougar since February 8, 1978 when St. Xavier Hall of Famer Mike Walaszek scored 46 points in a game.
Although he was out-shined by Krieger and his remarkable game, Larry Motuzis had a great game as well posting 14 points and leading the team with eight rebounds. Kyle Huppe also had a good game with nine points and dishing out a team-high four assists.
The Cougars offense was outstanding from all parts of the court in this game as they shot 51.9% from the field, 40% from beyond the three point line, and shot 76.5% from the free throw line. The game was very physical too with both teams combining to commit a gigantic total of 47 personal fouls in the game.
The win pushes St. Xavier’s record to 17-10 with a conference record of 11-6. The win also extends the men’s winning streak to three. The Cougars will look to continue their winning ways when they go on the road to take on Roosevelt University in Wednesday, February 18.
John Romando
Senior Sports Editor