THE REPORTER
Sabien Cain’s four-point play with 7.5 seconds lifted University to a thrilling 65-63 win over Class 3A No. 6 Brebeuf Jesuit before a raucous standing room only crowd at The U Center.
Cain’s heroics capped an improbable rally from a 14-point fourth quarter deficit and gave University their first lead of the night. The Braves missed an off balance three pointer that was rebounded by Seth Hogg as time expired.
Cain finished with 27 points including 14 in the fourth quarter as University outscored Brebeuf 19-5 over the last 6:17 of the game. Robert Russell had 12 points for the Blazers.
Trailing 58-44 the University comeback began when Cain scored with 6:17 left in the game. Cain scored on an assist from Steven Scott and then Scott scored with 4:17 left to get University within 59-50. After a defensive stop, Kahmi Bracey came up with a huge offensive rebound while falling out of bounds and got the ball to Cain who scored at the rim with 3:10 left to cut the Braves lead to 59-52.
Russell stole the ball on the ensuing possession and scored on a drive to the basket to get the Blazers within five at 59-54. Brebeuf made a pair of foul shots with 1:57 left before a seven-point possession allowed University to tie the game.
Cain was fouled with 1:42 left as he drove the lane. Brebeuf was also assessed a technical foul and Cain made all four foul shots to get University within 61-58. Russell converted a traditional three-point play on the ensuing possession to tie the game at 61 with 1:23 left.
Evan Haywood split a pair of foul shots with 1:25 left to put Brebeuf back on top and after a University miss, the Braves Quinn Warren also split a pair of foul shots with 32 seconds left. University coach Brandon Lafferman used his last timeout with 16.7 seconds left. The Blazers got the ball to Cain and he made a three pointer from the right win while getting fouled to give University their first win over Brebeuf since 2006.The Braves had won the last four games between the north side rivals.
Lafferman praised his team’s effort after a subpar first half performance that found the Blazers down 35-23 at the break. “I can’t say enough about our second half effort. The toughness and the togetherness. At halftime we preached playing harder than them and giving it everything you had and to have fun. Our guys went out there and that’s exactly what they did. They kept grinding and clawing their way back and they deserved it. That was a great win and now we go on the road Monday to try to get another conference win.”
The Blazers got contributions up and down the lineup. Bracey had eight points in the game, including six in the third quarter to help University stay in the game. Jackson Bledsoe added a big three pointer in the third quarter. Russell had five of his 12 points in the closing quarter. Bryce Gray had seven points and Hogg had six, including a third-quarter three pointer.
University’s game against Traders Point Christian Academy on Saturday has been postponed due to illness and injury within the Knights program.
The Blazers will play Monday at Seton Catholic in a huge Pioneer Conference North Division contest.
UNIVERSITY 65, BREBEUF JESUIT 63
University FG FT TP PF
Kahmi Bracey 2 4-4 8 5
Robert Russell 4 3-5 12 2
Sabien Cain 9 6-7 27 3
Andre Ozlowski 0 0-0 0 0
Seth Hogg 2 1-2 6 1
Bryce Gray 3 1-2 7 5
Steven Scott 1 0-0 2 3
Zien Bland 0 0-0 0 0
Jackson Bledsoe 1 0-0 3 0
Totals 22 15-20 65 19
Score by Quarters
Brebeuf Jesuit 19 16 18 10 – 63
University 10 13 19 23 – 65
University 3-pointers (6) Cain 3, Bledsoe, Russell, Hogg.
Love our University Trailblazers!
????????????????