By Paul Gotham
ROCHESTER, N.Y. — The Monroe Community College men’s basketball team has had a flair for the dramatic all season.
Saturday was no different.
The Tribunes erased a nine-point deficit in the final 70 seconds of regulation and won in overtime to advance to the Region 3 Division II championship game.
Devin Coleman (Bridgeport, CT/ Bassick) scored eight of Monroe’s 15 points in overtime as the Tribunes defeated the Erie Community College Kats, 100-88 in the semi-finals played on Monagan Court, Saturday.
Coleman drilled a pair of three-pointers and converted two free throws as Monroe advanced to Sunday’s final.
“You got to just keep doing what you do,” Monroe head coach Jerry Burns said of his team’s dramatic rally. “We were fortunate that we made the shots we needed to make.”
After hitting just 12 of their first 42 attempts from the floor, the Tribunes connected on 15 of their last 28 including four of eight in overtime.
“Our offense was better,” Burns said of his team’s approach late in the game. “The ball was moving. In the first half everything just looked so stagnant. It might have been 38 minutes of play like that then all of sudden it kicked in.”
With one second remaining on the shot clock, Coleman connected from behind the arc. Elijah Tillman (Garnerville, N.Y.) scored on a putback for a 91-87 MCC edge. By the time Coleman found the measure again from long range, Monroe led by eight and the last-minute deficit seemed a distant memory.
“What a great game that was,” Burns said. “I’ve coached a long time. That was unbelievable.”
Joshua McKenzie (Brooklyn, N.Y.) drained a long three to give Erie a 72-63 lead. The shot fit with the script of the night’s drama. With Monroe’s defense pressuring, McKenzie found himself in a double-team, 28 feet from the basket, and the shot clock winding down. The 6-0 guard launched a shot over outstretched arms. When the globe finally dropped from its apex and found nothing but net, it appeared the Tribunes were destined for defeat.
“It’s creeps in,” Burns said of the late-game doubt he sensed. “It’s human nature. It’s in the back of your mind. When that kid threw in that three? He threw it up, fading away from I don’t even know where he was. That’s when some doubt crept into me. Maybe it’s just not our night.”
But the Tribunes extended the game by putting the Kats on the line.
And the offense found its rhythm.
Anthony Hemingway (Brooklyn, N.Y./ NIA School) stole an inbound pass and drilled one of his six 3-pointers on the night. One possession later, the sophomore guard hit two free throws to cut the deficit to seven with 1:02 remaining.
Coleman drilled back-to-back catch-and-shoot threes to make it a one-possession game at 79-77 with 30 seconds left on the clock.
Justin Vaughan (Raleigh, N.C./Body of Christ Christian Academy) connected behind the arc and hit two free throws to make it an 84-83 game.
Hemingway went to the line with 8.1 on the clock and knotted the game at 85. Monroe had a chance to win the game in regulation when an intentional foul was called on Erie.
“The call for the intentional was a big call,” Burns noted. “It didn’t alter the game as much as people thought it would have, but it was the right call.”
The Tribs went the first six minutes of the game without hitting a field goal and connected just one time from the floor in the first five minutes coming out of the locker room.
“There weren’t any bad shots,” Burns said. “The ball wouldn’t drop. It’s a game of runs and especially this time of year you just see some crazy stuff.”
Fittingly, it was a defensive play which proved the deciding point in the game. With the game tied in overtime, Erie’s Dashawn King (Bronx, N.Y.) got ahead of the pack for what seemed like an uncontested dunk.
Hemingway came out of nowhere, rose up and blocked the shot shot from behind. Hemingway grabbed the ensuing loose ball and was eventually fouled. He hit one of two charity tosses and gave Monroe a lead it never surrendered at 86-85.
“There have been two guys who have blocks like that in my career here: (current MCC assistant coach) Marlin Johnson is one and now “Ant.” It changed the whole outcome. It was a huge block. That’s how he played the whole day.”
Hemingway finished the day with a game and career-high 37 points on 9 of 22 shooting including 6 of 12 behind the arc and 13 of 14 at the free throw line. He dished out a team-high four assists.
Coleman hit 5 of 10 from long range and added 19 points.
Tillman grabbed a team-high nine rebounds.
Monroe took its largest lead of the half at five when Michael Kelly Jr. (Bronx, N.Y./ Fairfield Warde) hit a catch-and-shoot three-pointer for a 14-9 lead. The Tribunes kept the five-point advantage when Davon Jackson (Odenton, MD) took a Justin Vaughan (Raleigh, NC) dish in the lane for a 16-11 Monroe lead.
Kelly chipped in 11 for the Tribs.
McKenzie hit a floater outside the lane, and Stefano Osuji (Gloucester, N.J.) scored on a runner in transition to knot the game at 21.
The Kats scored the last four of the half to take a four-point edge into the locker room. McKenzie led Osuji into the open floor for a layup, and Osuji hit a rebound and putback at the buzzer for a 36-31 Erie lead.
Osuji and King bothe registered double-doubles. Osuji scored 30 with 10 rebounds. King added 16 and also grabbed 10 boards. Michael Vigilance (Brooklyn, N.Y.) had 13.
Erie outscored Monroe on second-chance points (17-13), points off turnovers (16-15), points in the paint (24-20), bench points (28-27) and at the free throw line (36-31).
Monroe hit 15 of 41 behind the arc. Erie went 6 of 16 from long range.
“That’s what you call March Madness.”
Sunday’s Region 3 Division II title game is scheduled for a 2:30 pm tip off at MCC.
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