Sandburg Men Drop Heartbreaker in OT to Bryant & Stratton
Aaron Frey
Saturday, December 23, 2017 6:35 PM
Athletics
Galesburg, IL
The Carl Sandburg College men’s basketball team couldn’t close out a lead in the final seconds of its final game before the holidays, losing 79-76 in overtime to Bryant & Stratton on Saturday afternoon at John M. Lewis Gymnasium.
The Chargers (10-7) saw the visiting Bobcats (11-6) rally from a 40-28 halftime deficit, score five straight points in the final 28.7 seconds of regulation and put up the final four points in overtime to send Sandburg to its fifth straight defeat.
The Chargers led 69-64 in the final minute of regulation, but Bryant & Stratton’s Lewrenzo Byers drained a 3-pointer to close the gap to two. Chargers guard Kourtlandt Martin (Evansville, Ind./Central) was stripped near midcourt with :10 left, and the Bobcats converted the tying bucket on a Jarel Triplett layup to force OT.
Martin’s spinning layup with 1:30 left in overtime gave the Chargers a 76-75 lead, but answered with two go-ahead free throws from Lincoln Wieseman and two more foul shots from Brian Bearden for a 79-76 lead. Sandburg’s Tyler Houston (Knoxville, Ill./Knoxville) got a clean look at a straight-on 25-footer at the buzzer, but it was off the mark.
“We had a lot of opportunities to close things out and we didn’t take advantage of them,” Chargers coach Ryan Twaddle said. “It’s a tough way to go into the holiday break, but we’ll have a lot to learn from this game.”
Martin finished with a game-high 23 points along with a season-best nine assists for the Chargers. He ended up 9 of 10 from the line. Sophomore Matt Wendling (Athens, Ill./Athens) added 22 points on 9-of-19 shooting and eight rebounds.
Deandrey Robinson (Peoria, Ill./Peoria) had 14 points and seven rebounds for Sandburg. Houston scored 13, including a 4-for-7 showing from 3-point range, and had eight rebounds to tie Wendling for the team lead.
Byers went 5 of 11 from beyond the arc and scored 19 to pace the Bobcats. Bryant & Stratton also got a double-double from Wieseman with 16 points and 11 rebounds. Triplett (15) and Bearden (13) also scored in double digits for the Bobcats.
Sandburg will take some time off for the holidays before returning to host Robert Morris-Peoria at 3 p.m. Jan. 6 in the second half of a men’s/women’s doubleheader. The Chargers women’s team will face Loras JV at 1 p.m. in the opening game.