Down 10 points with 86 seconds remaining and a berth in the upcoming Ohio Athletic Conference tournament hanging in the balance, the Wilmington College men's basketball team mounted an epic comeback to send the seniors out with a win in their last game at Fred Raizk Arena in Hermann Court.
Freshman Will Patrick (Chester, PA/Pickerington Central (OH)) pulled down a defensive rebound with 10 seconds remaining, took the ball coast to coast and found a streaking sophomore Nathan Scott (Sardinia, OH/Eastern) for the eventual game-winning basket.
Muskingum had one final breath as leading scorer Jarrell Marsh drove to the front of the rim, but left the layup short, and the Fightin' Quakers pulled off the 80-79 victory Wednesday.
Wilmington now holds a one-game lead for the eighth and final spot in the OAC tournament heading into the regular-season finale 3 p.m. Saturday at Mount Union. The Muskies travels to No. 8 John Carroll Saturday needing a win and a WC loss to take the final spot.
"Hopefully this gets us in the tournament, assuming we keep fighting, and have to go try win on Saturday, " said Wilmington head coach K.C. Hunt. "You never know, Muskingum wins and we lose Saturday, we are not in a great position. But from a standpoint of a win, it's great for a young team to overcome and make plays in winning time. I am just really proud of the guys."
With the game, and the season, seemingly slipping away with 1:26 remaining, Hunt called a timeout to deliver a simple message.
"Defensively, we have to be super aggressive and look for steals, and offensively, make the right offensive play," said Hunt. "There is no thing as a 10-point shot. Let's continue to share the ball, but get down hill and attack the rim. We were super aggressive and played with a ton of energy to get us back in it. I thought we executed really well, made shots when we needed to and we finished plays; just an all-around great comeback."
Senior Zach McCorkle (Cincinnati, OH/Winton Woods) started the comeback with a layup, and following an offensive rebound by Scott, he found sophomore Christian Jones (Hamilton, OH/Hamilton), who drilled a three-pointer, and 25 seconds later the deficit was trimmed in half.
McCorkle fouled out seconds later, but Muskingum missed a pair of free throws, keeping the momentum with the home team. Wilmington continued to get defensive stops and free throws from Scott and sophomore D.J. Iles (Fayetteville Perry) pulled the Fightin' Quakers to within one with 16 seconds left.
Once again, Muskingum missed a pair of free throws to leave the door, and with the help of Patrick and Scott, the Fightin' Quakers bust the door down for the win. It was WC's first lead since 12:15 left in the first half.
Wilmington pulled out the victory despite being minus-21 on the glass and minus-13 at the foul line.
Muskingum had a couple runs in the first half, and had a 12-point bulge with four minutes remaining in the opening half. The Muskies led by eight at the break. However, Wilmington scored the first seven points to pull to within one less than four minutes into the second half. But, the Fightin' Quakers couldn't get over the hump.
Muskingum answered, and the lead was back to double figures with 5:29 remaining. The lead hovered around the 10-point mark before Wilmington embarked on the comeback.
Jones led the way with 22 points, four rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block, while Iles added 17 points and three assists. However, it's the non-scoring parts of their games Hunt wanted to point out.
"The thing that has been the biggest improvement in Christian and D.J. throughout the season is their growth in the non-basketball things; verbal communication, making sure guys are on the same page, and that is called leadership," said Hunt. "They are growing into a fine backcourt."
McCorkle added 10 points, four rebounds, three assists and two blocks, while senior Chris Jackson (Ostrander, OH/Buckeye Valley) added four points, two assists, two steals and a block in their final home game.
