By Nicholas Huenefeld/Owens Sports Information
New Rochelle, N.Y.---Monroe College edged the No. 8 Owens Community College men's basketball team 64-62 in the Monroe Classic semifinals today.
Owens had three chances to take the lead in the final two minutes, but produced a turnover and two missed 3-pointers. With three seconds left, Monroe's Lukas Landgren missed two free throws, but his teammates produced the offensive rebound to seal the win.
In the first half, neither team held more than a two point lead for most of the half. With Monroe holding a 16-14 lead with 7:57 remaining, Shaakir Lindsey (Teaneck/Teaneck, N.J.) took over for several minutes offensively as he helped Owens go on a 13-5 run over the next 2:35.
Lindsey started the run with a 3-pointer, followed by a lay-up in traffic and another 3-pointer to give Owens a 22-19 lead. On the next possession, he gunned a one-handed pass out to Darren Groves (Thurgood Marshall/Dayton, Ohio) for a corner 3-pointer and a four point lead. John Murry (North Central/Indianapolis, Ind.) converted a lay-up on the next possession to give Owens its largest lead of the game at 27-21 with 5:32 remaining in the half.
Following a timeout, Monroe responded with an 8-0 run to retake the lead with just under three minutes left. Lindsey responded with a lay-up to give Owens the lead again, but Monroe closed the half on a 5-0 run to take a 33-29 lead into the break.
Monroe opened the second half strong to push its lead to 39-31 before Owens got back into the game with their 3-point shooting. Following a Murry jumper, CJ Bussey (Central Catholic/Toledo, Ohio) hit a 3-pointer in transition off a pass from Murry to trim the lead to three in 56 seconds.
Later, with 12:28 leftt, Justin Baker (Cathedral/Indianapolis, Ind.) hit back-to-back 3-pointers to pull Owens within 47-44. Pete Firlik (Catholic Central/Grand Rapids, Mich.) followed with a 3-pointer of his own, and Baker hit his third three of the half to tie the game at 50-all with 9:51 left.
From there on, neither team held a lead of more than two points until Monroe's Thomas Rivera hit a 3-pointer to break a 60-all tie with 2:49 left. Lindsey and Kenny Jones (Clay/South Bend, Ind.) both missed chances on the other end before Murry turned the ball over. Jones, however, produced a steal and a lay-in on Monroe's next possession to pull Owens within one with 2:05 left.
Unfortunately, it was the final points of the game for Owens. After Monroe missed two free throws, Murry had another turnover on the next possession leading to a free throw from Rivera that made it 64-62 with 1:07 left. Murry missed a running jumper from the left side of the rim on the next Owens possession, but Monroe missed two more free throws to give Owens another chance.
Murry, however, missed a 3-pointer from the right wing with six seconds left. Monroe then missed two more free throws, but picked up the game-winning offensive rebound and ran out the clock.
In the second half, Owens started 5-for-6 from long range before missing their final three attempts. This came following a first half in which the team finished 3-for-12 from long range.
Murry finished with a team-high 12 points, along with five rebounds. Lindsey, who had all of his points in the first half, finished with 10 points and a team-high six assists. Firlik and Baker each totaled nine points.
With the loss, Owens falls to 5-2 this year. They will take on Community College of Rhode Island (5-1) in tomorrow's consolation game at 12 p.m. All games are being held at the Monroe College Athletic Complex in New Rochelle.
Notes
Lindsey returned to the lineup for Owens after a two-game absence. He is playing near his hometown of Teaneck, N.J., which is about 20 miles from New Rochelle. The lay-off produced some rust, apparently, as the 95 percent foul shooter missed all three of his free throw attempts in the first half.