Barva 81 Sanatura 82 F-OT

Another Barva game. Another overtime thriller. Only this time we found a way to come out on top at the end of the game.

Switching up their starting lineup, Barva went with defensive ace Charles Plummer to set the tone for the first quarter. Playing aggressive defense, Barva broke out to a big lead to start the game. Our team looked tight, missing baskets inside and making poor passes that fed the Barva fast break. Six minutes in, and we still couldn't buy a basket; the scoreboard read 16-0, highlighting our offensive struggles. We limped to the end of the first quarter down 23-8.



In the second and third quarter we clawed our way back into the game, chipping away at Barva's lead point by point with some tight defense and improved shot selection. Michael Jackson went scoreless in the first quarter, but started finding spots in Barva's defense to get to the basket. Our big man rotation clamped down on defense and we were only down 3 at the end of the third quarter.

Barva bounced back and extended their lead to ten points, and yet again we fought back. Late in the fourth quarter, I was wondering if Coach Gottlieb has a good cardiologist handy. The last three minutes we seized the momentum, closed a five point gap and tied things up. Then Barva hit a big basket to go up by 2 with a minute to go. Our inbounds play sort of work, leading to an easy basket to tie things up. We managed to stop Barva once more and end up with the ball with 24.7 seconds to go; we were either winning the game or headed to overtime. This time our set play didn't quite work out and we couldn't get the shot we wanted. Overtime.

Last game we played two overtimes; the shoe was on the other foot, however, as Barva had several guys in foul trouble and momentum seemed on our side. Somehow we managed a four point lead early in OT, but Clifford Smith hit an off-balance baseline jumper and then Rohel Wilson grabbed an offensive board and outback to tie up the game. Down by 1, Barva missed some key free throws, yet somehow the rebound ended up in their hands and they converted a basket to go up by one. With seven seconds to go, Michael drove to the basket and drew the foul to go to the line. Mike took his time and converted both free throws, giving us a one point lead. Barva got one final possession, but they weren't quite able to get a quality look as the final buzzer sounded.


Game Notes

• Clifford Smith scored 23 points for Barva. Foul trouble hampered his production in the first game, but he was deadly tonight mixing in jumpers with some floaters on penetration. 
• Neil has stressed the importance of free throw shooting all season. Thankfully we had our best free throw shooting night all season hitting 24 of 27 free throws. In these tight, one possession games that's a huge accomplishment.
• We were ice cold from the outside. I mean 0-17 ice cold with Henry leading the pack at 0-9. Still, I kept telling Henry to keep shooting, at some point you're bound to hit a big basket. Three or four times we had the ball swirl out.
• This was Barva's first loss of the season...and they only lose a handful every year. They're still the favorites in the tourney, maintaining the number one seed and home court advantage in the playoffs.
• This was also the first time the Sanatura franchise beat Barva. Quite the accomplishment for a second year franchise. We had a nice crowd on hand in what many consider a neutral site.