Men's Basketball Overcomes 22-Point Deficit to Defeat Eagles in Overtime

OWENSBORO, KY – The Brescia University men's basketball team came back from their largest deficit of the year to take the revenge win over the Eagles of Midway, 92-88. The Bearcats extended their record to 6-13 overall and 4-10 in RSC play to stay in playoff contention.  

Despite going shot-for-shot with the Eagles in the beginning of the first half, the Bearcats struggled from the field as easy layups turned into defensive rebounds for Midway. Going into halftime, BU was staring at another double-digit deficit against the divisional rival. With 15-minutes left in regulation, the Bearcats were down an astonishing 22 points with the whole second half to go. The Bearcats did not admit defeat just yet as the momentum seemed to shift after a BU timeout. Six Eagle turnovers in three minutes led to a Gonzalo Luque layup and a Taeron Hogg putback dunk as the Bearcats began to chop up the lead. Luque would begin his reign behind the arc nailing two threes on back-to-back possessions, cutting the lead to 11. The Eagles would call a timeout where they were met with another full-court press by the Bearcats. Another turnover by the Midway offense led to another made layup by the Bearcats.  

Down by nine with eight minutes left on the clock, a steal by Camden Pfeister allowed him to barrel down the lane for a huge statement dunk. Allow the Eagles answered back with a score of their own, Luque fired back with his third three-pointer of the half as the Eagles' lead shrank to five. BU didn't stop there as a Midway missed shot gave the Bearcats a chance to shrink the lead again. Pfeister would nail a three on the left wing to get the Bearcats within two. Midway tried relentlessly to push their lead even further out of reach, but the Bearcats had other plans. Taeron Hogg checked back in and immediately scored the next bucket after getting the ball in his hands. With three and a half minutes left, the turnovers continued to roll for the Eagles as the mistake led to a transition three for Luque to take the one-point lead. A great defensive possession for the Bearcats gave Pfeister room to take his second three as he stretched the Bearcats lead to four.  

Midway came back to tie it and take the lead back on free throws after a foul call with 40 seconds left in the game. The ten second differential between shot and game clock would determine the Bearcats taking one last shot down by one. Luque took the team on his back as he took a fadeaway three off the right wing and banked it off the glass to give BU a two-point lead with 4.9 seconds left on the clock. Despite the shot, the Eagles would get a lucky layup in through traffic as we headed into overtime tied at 78. The extra five minutes was just as exciting as the last 15 as the Bearcats sealed the win at the charity stripe.  

Camden Pfeister led the Bearcats with 26 points as Gonzalo Luque followed with 24. The pair combined for eight threes, seven coming in the second half. John Saenz continues to crash the boards as he grabs 10 on the night for BU along with seven points and six steals. The Bearcats forced 19 turnovers in the second half and extra time for a season high as they force the Eagles into 30 turnovers in the game. 

The Bearcats stay home on Thursday, Feb. 15, as they take on the Mighty Oaks of Oakland City at 7:30pm CT.