Aided by a career-high 42 pints from Craig Bradshaw, Belmont downs Ohio in The Convo in the final second.
Two years ago, a ‘slow it down’ Jim Christian looked overmatched by the up-tempo style of Belmont.
Fast forward two years and Ohio welcomed the fast pace under coach Saul Phillips, as the Bobcats ran with the Bruins for the entire game.
Back and forth throughout the second half, it was Belmont who had the last laugh, as Bruins junior guard Craig Bradshaw worked his way through traffic hitting a runner off the glass with .2 seconds on the clock, giving the Bruins an 83-81 victory.
This came right after the game-tying layup from senior guard Javarez “Bean” Willis, who passed up a three-pointer in favor of the uncontested jumper, which knotted the game at 81-81 with 5.8 seconds left in the game. After the bucket, it seemed as though the game was destined for overtime.
But with the ball on the last possession it would be Bradshaw and the Bruins that would have the last word in The Convo.
“We assumed they would set him a screen and roll, to be honest with you,” Phillips said. “That’s where the breakdown in help comes and quite honestly he made a shot over a very long Ryan Taylor which is not the way he hurt us all night.”
Right from the opening tip, Ohio was playing catch-up with Belmont, as everything was falling for the Bruins. Within the first three minutes, all five of the Bruins’ starters had scored and they held a nine-point lead over the Bobcats. This one seemed to be headed toward a blowout win for Belmont much like the 2012 edition, which finished in a 19-point victory for the Bruins.
Then came the surge from Ohio.
Ohio trailed 35-26 with 7:28 remaining in the first half, but the Bobcats proceeded to go on a 10-3 run to take their first lead of the game. Led by its two senior guards Stevie Taylor and Willis, the Bobcats stormed back into the game, sinking three after three while locking up on the Bruins at the other end of the court.
For the first time this season, it was the Stevie Taylor of old — without a headband. After going scoreless in Ohio’s previous game, Phillips joked that the headband might have been blocking airflow to Taylor’s brain. Whether the joke was actually true or not, Taylor, along with Willis, provided the needed spark for the Bobcats.
The team needed production from its guard combo while the Bruins were intent on shutting down senior forward Maurice Ndour. Whenever Ndour got the ball in the post, he was met by immediate double-team coverage, which gave Taylor and Willis open looks from outside.
“Their game plan clearly was to just surround Maurice and our guards did a good job of getting into the paint on the dribble, getting shots and loosening it up a little bit,” Phillips said. “I’m absolutely sick to my stomach that we lost especially the way we did, but I see something and I think everyone in this gym saw something.”
It would take both Willis and Stevie Taylor to equal the output of Bradshaw, who had a career-high 42 points including the game-winner. After Bradshaw scored 19 in the first half, Belmont coach Rick Byrd seemed determined to get the ball to him. But just like the Bruins’ coverage of Ndour, the Bobcats would double-team Bradshaw at every opportunity.
Nothing seemed to work against him, though, because when the pressure came, Bradshaw would create spacing and launch a shot. He converted on eight of his 12 three-point attempts on the night as there was nothing Ohio could throw at him that would stop his career night.
“Give the man his due, 8-for-12 even if you’re not guarded,” Phillips said. “He didn’t have one unguarded, that was not the case.”
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