Basketball fans who enjoy a strong defensive game we treated to an exceptional one Tuesday night at Brebeuf Jesuit. On a night where open shots were nearly non-existent, it was only appropriate that the game winning shot came on a contested shot at the buzzer.
Jay Higgins, an Iowa football recruit, made a foul line jumper over tight University defense to give Brebeuf a 48-46 win in the first meeting between the teams since 2007.
The contest between the Circle City Conference leading Braves and the PAAC North champion Trailblazers was a slug fest. The game was a one-possession game for 30 of the 32 minutes. The largest lead of the night was five. The lead changed hands 10 times and the game was tied on six occasions.
University was led by its trio of senior guards. Joe Martin had 18 points, Max Greenamoyer 13 and Sam Mervis 11. Martin capped a nine-point fourth quarter with a basket and foul shot with 6.4 seconds left that tied the game. After a timeout the Braves raced the ball to the front court before calling another timeout. University switched defenses during the timeout and had Higgins well-guarded, but the 6-1 senior drained the shot as the final buzzer sounded. Higgins had a game high 20 points.
University held an 8-6 lead after the first quarter, scoring with one second left on a Camden Brown fast break layin. Korey Ash-Simpson started one of the few fast breaks in the game with a rebound and pushed the ball to Mervis who fed Brown for bucket.
Mervis provided second quarter heroics at the buzzer for a second straight game. His jump shot at the horn gave University a 18-17 lead at the break.
The Braves took a 25-20 lead early in the third quarter, but a Greenamoyer three point basket and a Mervis field goal quickly tied the contest. The teams traded baskets for the remainder of the quarter with Brebeuf taking a 36-34 lead at the end of the period.
Brebeuf took another five-point lead early in the fourth quarter on a basket and foul shot by Alec Bevelhimer. Four straight foul shots by Martin got University within 39-38, but Higgins pushed the lead back to three. Martin scored again to cut the advantage to 41-40 Braves.
The Blazers took their first lead of the fourth quarter with three minutes left when Jacob Sager made a steal, passed to Martin who found Greenamoyer for a three pointer for a 43-41 University lead. With just over a minute left and University leading 43-42, Higgins came up with a steal in a scrum near half court and found Billy Smith for a layin and a 44-43 Brebeuf lead. After a University miss with 30 seconds left, Brebeuf’s Jayden McMullen made two foul shots with 18 seconds setting up the final sequence.
The foul line spelled the difference in the game. Brebeuf was 13 of 16 at the line, University was just 5 of 6.
University coach Brandon Lafferman was effusive in his praise of both teams. “I’m excited because we got better tonight. Higgins is a phenomenal player and athlete and made a great shot to win the game. Congratulations to Brebeuf on a well-played game. It was a great battle with two really good teams on the floor and many good senior players. I was happy with our back court play from Joe Martin and Sam Mervis. We got good bench minutes from Korey Ash-Simpson and Larry Pierce.”
Brebeuf improves to 11-4 with the win. University is now 14-4. The Trailblazers are next in action Saturday afternoon against another Circle City Conference foe, the Heritage Christian Eagles. The junior varsity contest begins at 1 p.m. The 2019 University baseball team will receive their state championship rings in a ceremony immediately after the junior varsity game.
UNIVERSITY 48, BREBEUF JESUIT 46
University FG FT TP PF
Sam Mervis 5-8 0-1 11 1
Max Greenamoyer 5-12 0-0 13 2
Camden Brown 1-2 0-0 2 0
Jacob Sager 0-2 0-0 0 5
Joe Martin 6-10 5-5 18 3
Korey Ash-Simpson 1-4 0-0 2 4
Aaron Stallings 0-0 0-0 0 0
Larry Pierce 0-1 0-0 0 1
Matt Jones 0-0 0-0 0 0
Totals 18-39 5-6 46 16
Score by Quarters
University 8 10 16 12 – 46
Brebeuf Jesuit 6 11 19 12 – 48
University 3-point shooting (5-10) Greenamoyer 3-7, Mervis 1-1, Martin 1-1, Brown 0-1.
University rebounds (21) Ash-Simpson 5, Brown 4, Sager 4, Mervis 3, Greenamoyer 3, Pierce 2.