[Men's Basketball] SAU Men fall on OT Buzzer Beater

- Troy Baranik, Sports Information

LAURINBURG, NC - The St. Andrews University Men's Basketball team lost a heartbreaking game to AAC foe Tennessee Wesleyan University 76-73 in OT on Saturday afternoon at home.

SAU got off to a great start running out to a 21-9 lead in the first half before cooling off as TW made a run to trim SAU's lead down to three at the break at 28-25. SAU shot 46 percent in the first half while TW shot 38 percent and only two threes.

The game remained tight throughout the second half with neither team able to go up by more than 10 points as SAU had their largest lead at 37-27 early in the second half. SAU also led by 7 with 4:40 to play until TW rallied again to take a short-lived two-point lead near the end of regulation.

Junior guard Carlos Heath (JR/Rochester, NY) then led the Knights with a team-high 18 points on 7 of 12 shooting including the game-tying basket to force overtime. Heath also had 2 rebounds and 2 assists. However, TW made a buzzer-beating three in overtime to take it 76-73.

SAU forced 17 TW turnovers while gaining 9 steals and pulling down 40 rebounds to out-rebound the Bulldogs 40-35 while also shooting 47.5 percent overall.

TW shot 44 percent for the game while making 82 percent of their free throws as opposed to the Knights who missed 12 free throws which made all the difference in the n din a tie game. Both teams also struggled from three-point range with each team combining to make just 9 threes.

Junior forward Jeremias Easterling (JR/La Plata, Argentina) led the Knights with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his 4th double-double of the season. He also had an assist and two steals as SAU ended up with 3 players in double-digit scoring. Junior guard Andrew Rodriguez (JR/San Juan, Puerto Rico) was also in double-figures with 13 points and 6 rebounds and a steal.

Freshman forward Darius Huff (FR/Newport News, VA) was also in double-digit rebounds for the Knights tying Easterling with 10 boards along with 6 points, 2 assists, a block and a team-high 3 steals. Freshman forward Calvin Ahoume (FR/Cameroon, Africa) also added 6 points and 2 rebounds.

Junior point guard Christian Lathan (JR/Fayetteville, NC) then finished with a team-best 7 assists, with two rebounds and a steal but struggled to score the ball as he had just 2 points. Senior guards Ben Twigger (SR/Concord, NC) and Jourdan Sanders (SR/Raleigh, NC) also combined for 7 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 2 steals.

SAU falls to 3-16 overall and 3-14 in the AAC while TW improves to 9-15 overall and 6-10 in the conference.

The Knights are next in action on Monday night when they remain home to host non-conference foe Johnson & Wales University (5-13) at 7 PM.