A furious late rally came up just short as University dropped a 57-55 decision to Greenwood Christian on Senior Night at the U Center.
A cold shooting performance in the middle periods of the game put the Trailblazers down 42-31 entering the fourth quarter. The deficit reached 13 on two occasions and University still trailed 52-42 with less than two minutes remaining. Jacob Sager pulled the Blazers within eight, scoring at the rim off a Max Greenamoyer pass. Sam Mervis then stole the ball and found Greenamoyer for a three pointer with 1:24 left to make the score 52-47.
The Cougars made both ends of a one-and-one with 61 seconds remaining before Quinn Steiner hit a three with 55 seconds remaining to cut the lead to 54-50. Greenwood Christian made two more free throws before Mervis hit a pair of charity tosses with 28 seconds left to pull University within four again. After the Cougars split a pair of foul shots, Steiner made his fifth three pointer of the game with eight seconds remaining. The Blazers were out of time outs and could not stop the clock. The Cougars were granted a timeout with one second left without inbounding the ball. The Blazers were unable to steal the inbound and Greenwood Christian escaped with the win.
University got off to a fast start with seniors Steiner, Eric Major, Nate Shatkowski and Eyal Friedman joining Mervis in the starting lineup. The Blazers led 8-2 and 18-12, but the Cougars pulled within 20-17 after the first with a basket at the horn. Steiner hit a trio of three pointers in the first quarter.
University took a 22-17 lead 10 seconds in to the second quarter on a Joe Martin driving basket, but the Blazers scored just four more points the rest of the period and another buzzer beater by the Cougars had University facing a 32-26 deficit at the half.
The third quarter was not any better for University, as the Blazers mustered just one field and five total points in the quarter.
“I was proud of the fight our guys showed tonight during the fourth quarter,” said University coach Brandon Lafferman. “Congratulations to Coach Marlin and his team on the win. They are going to be a tough out in the tournament.”
Steiner led University with 15 points. Mervis had 11 points and Martin 10 to give University three players in double figures.
Greenwood Christian improved to 12-10 on the season, while University falls to 18-4. The Trailblazers will close the regular season Thursday night at Indianapolis Bishop Chatard.
Greenwood Christian 57, University 55
University FG FT TP PF
Quinn Steiner 5-10 0-0 15 0
Eyal Friedman 0-1 0-0 0 1
Sam Mervis 2-8 7-9 11 3
Nate Shatkowski 3-6 1-2 8 1
Eric Major 2-3 0-0 4 3
Joe Martin 5-10 0-2 10 2
Max Greenamoyer 1-5 0-0 3 3
Jacob Sager 2-5 0-0 4 4
Totals 20-48 8-13 55 17
Score by Quarters
Greenwood Christian 17 15 10 15 – 57
University 20 6 5 24 – 55
University 3-point shooting (7-20) Steiner 5-10, Greenamoyer 1-5, Shatkowski 1-2, Martin 0-2, Mervis 0-1.
University rebounds (20) Steiner 4, Martin 4, Mervis 3, Major 3, Sager 3, Shatkowski 2, Greenamoyer 1.