Sabien Cain’s off-balance basket with one second remaining gave the University boys a thrilling 56-55 win over Class 2A No. 18 Shenandoah before a raucous crowd Friday evening at The U Center.
Cain drove in to the lane and absorbed contact to the left of the hoop and got the ball on the rim where it bounced twice and fell through to complete a comeback win for the Blazers.
University trailed 53-48 with 1:30 left before turning up the defensive pressure to put themselves in position to win. Larry Pierce split two foul shots with 1:26 left to cut the Raiders lead to 53-49. University’s defense pressured Shenandoah in to throwing the ball out of founds with 1:17 left. Pierce scored on a rebound basket with 1:05 remaining to pull the Blazers within 53-51.
University’s Kahmi Bracey drew an offensive foul with 54 seconds left to regain possession for the Trailblazers. University took a timeout and ran their offense to get Pierce open in the right corner for a three pointer that put the Blazers up 54-53. Shenandoah ran their offense through 6-4 senior Jasper Campbell. University played tight defense on Campbell and got a hand on his in close shot, but Campbell made an acrobatic rebound tip for the final two of his game-high 34 points with nine seconds remaining to give Shenandoah the lead and set the stage for Cain’s heroics.
The contest was tight through, with neither team holding a lead larger than six points. University had an early 7-2 lead on baskets by Pierce and Cain and a three-pointer by Robert Russell. Shenandoah quickly took control and ran out to a 16-11 lead. Campbell scored 11 of Shenandoah’s 13 second-quarter points.
The game was tied at 34 midway through the third quarter before Shenandoah sprinted to a 40-34 lead. Seth Hogg stole the ball and found Cain for a layup with one minute left in the third period. Nate Jeffrey followed with a steal and found Pierce for layin to pull University within 40-38 after three quarters.
Pierce opened the fourth quarter with two straight baskets, the second off a Hogg steal to give University a 42-40 lead. After the Raiders took a 44-42 lead, Russell hit another three-pointer for a 45-44 lead with a Cain basket with 4:25 left putting the Blazers up 47-44. Shenandoah then scored nine of the next 10 points to take the 53-48 lead that preceded the late-game heroics.
Pierce led University with 21 points. Cain had 13 and Russell had 11.
“I’m really proud of the effort of our players and to just hang on. It was a tough battle for four quarters and for us to be down five points late in the game and come back and win shows of toughness from our guys and their desire to pull out a win,” said University Coach Brandon Lafferman. “I though Coach McCullough’s team was well prepared, as expected. Their kids played hard and did a really nice job. I’m excited to go down to Greenwood Christian tomorrow and see how we do on a back to back.”
University is now 2-0 on the season. Shenandoah falls to 1-2.
UNIVERSITY 56, SHENANDOAH 55
University FG FT TP PF
Nate Jeffrey 0 0-0 0 0
Kahmi Bracey 2 0-0 4 1
Robert Russell 4 0-0 11 3
Sabien Cain 6 0-0 13 4
Larry Pierce 9 2-5 21 1
Bryce Gray 0 0-2 0 1
Andre Ozlowski 2 0-0 4 0
Seth Hogg 1 0-0 3 1
Steven Scott 0 0-0 0 0
Totals 24 2-7 56 11
Score by Quarters
Shenandoah 10 13 17 15 – 55
University 9 16 13 18 – 56
University 3-pointers (6) Russell 3, Cain 1, Pierce 1, Hogg 1.