The University boys won their fourth straight game Saturday afternoon, defeating Sectional rival Heritage Christian 50-48 at The U Center in a thrilling contest
Sabien Cain had 15 points and Andre Ozlowski 12 as University outscored the Eagles 7-4 in the last two minutes
Trailing 44-43, University’s Nate Jeffrey came up with an offensive rebound off a missed foul shot to extend a Trailblazer possession. Ozlowski put the Blazers up for good at 45-44 with two minutes left.
The Trailblazer lead grew to 47-44 with 1:28 on well executed inbound play from under the Heritage Christian basket. Seth Hogg unleashed a long pass to Larry Pierce who slammed home the dunk. The Eagles’ Myles Colvin, who scored a game-high 16 points, hit a pair of foul shots with 1:12 left to make it a one-point game.
University held on defense, but turned the ball over with 57 seconds left to give Heritage Christian another shot. The Eagles ran the clock down before missing a hot with 25 seconds left. Hogg came down with the big defensive rebound. Robert Russell was fouled with 14 seconds left and calmly made both ends of the one and one for a 49-46 lead.
Heritage Christian’s Dylan Doss drove to the basket and was fouled as he scored with nine seconds remaining. Doss missed the potential game tying free throw and Pierce rebounded for University and was fouled. Pierce missed the front end of the one and one and Heritage Christian took a timeout.
Colvin took the ball to the left side of the court guarded by Pierce. Ozlowski provided the double team and forced an out of bounds pass with 1.9 seconds remaining. The Blazers inbounded to Ozlowski who was fouled with 0.2 on the clock. Ozlowski made the first foul shot and missed the second for the 50-48 final.
“The best thing we did today was execute our gameplay on the defensive end,” said University coach Brandon Lafferman. “Down the stretch we executed a lot of important plays, a lot of out of bounds plays, breaking pressure and set plays to make baskets. Big free throws by Robert Russell to close out the game. Heritage is a great team and Myles Colvin is a tough player. I’m sure we will see them again soon.”
University jumped out to an early lead, taking an 11-3 advantage and led 14-7 at the end of the first quarter. Cain made a trio of three point baskets in the first quarter. University kept playing well and applying defensive pressure throughout the second quarter. A basket by Pierce and a steal and old fashioned three point play by Bryce Gray gave University a 25-15 lead late in the quarter before Colvin scored to make it 25-17 at halftime.
Heritage Christian controlled the game in the third quarter, outscoring University 19-9. Colvin had eight points in the period including a pair of breakaway dunks. The Eagles led 36-34 entering the final stanza.
Colvin put the Eagles up 38-34 before the Blazers fought back. Kahmi Bracey scored and Ozlowski completed a three point play for a 39-38 lead. The teams traded scores with Russell and Ozlowski scoring for University before Heritage Christian took that 44-43 lead with 3:02 left.
University is now 11-6 on the season. The Trailblazers host Victory College Prep on Friday before traveling to Park Tudor on Saturday for the PAAC championship game.
UNIVERSITY 50, HERITAGE CHRISTIAN 48
University FG FT TP PF
Robert Russell 2 2-2 7 1
Sabien Cain 5 1-2 15 4
Andre Ozlowski 5 2-5 12 1
Larry Pierce 4 0-1 8 0
Seth Hogg 1 0-0 3 3
Bryce Gray 1 1-1 3 1
Nate Jeffrey 0 0-0 0 0
Kahmi Bracey 1 0-0 2 2
Steven Scott 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 19 6-11 50 12
Score by Quarters
Heritage Christian 7 10 19 12 – 48
University 14 11 9 16 – 50
University 3-pointers (6) Cain 4, Russell 1, Hogg 1.