Malik Jacobs buried a 25-foot jumper at the buzzer to lift the Urbana University men’s basketball team past Glenville State, 94-91, in overtime Saturday afternoon in the Grimes Center.
UU overcame a 17-point deficit, its largest comeback since Feb. 14, 2012 against Central State at home. In that game, the Blue Knights won 78-77 on a buzzer-beating layup from Sharif Muhammad after trailing by 21 points.
With Saturday’s victory, UU improved to 4-8 (2-6 MEC) on the season. It was the first overtime win in head coach Nick Dials’ career and first overtime win for the Blue Knights in three years (91-87 at UVa-Wise, Feb. 20, 2016). Additionally, it was the first overtime victory at the Grimes Center since Nov. 14, 2011, when UU defeated Edinboro 114-111 in double OT. The Blue Knights had lost five previous overtime home games.
Glenville State (7-7, 2-6 MEC) led the entire contest until 7:26 left in the second half, when Ethan Snapp’s 3-pointer put UU ahead 71-69. Then, the Blue Knights and Pioneers started to exchange leads.
Datrey Long’s layup with a minute left in regulation gave the Blue Knights an 83-81 lead, but GSC’s Phil Bledsoe responded with a contested jumper to send the game to OT.
Both teams were scoreless after two minutes in OT, until Mike Ryan drilled a 3-pointer to give the Blue Knights an 86-83 lead with 2:43 left. Zach Bates put UU up four on a pair of free throws with 58 seconds left, 90-86, but GSC didn’t go away.
After a getting a stop with 10 seconds left, the Pioneers tied the game in transition on a Howard Smith dunk. Without hesitating, Jacobs took the inbounds pass and raced down court to get a great look from three-point range at the top of the key for his first career game-winning shot.
The two teams will meet again on Feb. 16 in Glenville, W. Va.
UU turned the ball over three times combined in the second half and overtime, and had eight turnovers in the game. The Blue Knights forced 13 Pioneer turnovers and outscored the visitors 21-7 in points off turnovers.
The Blue Knights were efficient on offense with the most points in the paint (44) and highest shooting percentage (51.5%) in a conference game this season. UU shot 62 percent (18-29) in the second half. The Blue Knights went 11 of 26 (42.3%) from three-point range and have now made 10 or more 3-pointers in four of the past five games.
GSC shot 50 percent overall and did damage from beyond the arc by going 15 of 31 (48.4%).
UU held the slight edge on the boards by out-rebounding GSC with a 35-34 margin.
Jacobs led five players scoring in double figures with 26 points, four assists and four rebounds. Snapp finished with 20 points, four assists and four rebounds while Ryan and Matt Treacy each added 12 points. Ryan and Jacobs each knocked down a team-high three treys. Bates chipped in with a career-high 10 points, while he and Long each grabbed a team-high five rebounds.
Glenville’s Bedsoe, a transfer from Div. I Marshall University, had a game-high of 33 points and 13 rebounds. The Pioneers had four players hit double digits including Noah Frampton (16), Kalin Johnson (13) and Howard Smith (10).
The Blue Knights will travel to Fairmont State on Thursday for a conference matchup against the first-place Falcons. Tipoff in Fairmont, W.Va., is slated for 7:30 p.m.
