Men's Basketball Comes From Behind and Defeats Berea in Overtime

BEREA, Kentucky - The Mount St. Joseph men's basketball team hit the road on Tuesday to finish out the regular season at Berea. The Mountaineers came into the game riding high off the heels of an upset win over the leagues top team Anderson on Saturday. For much of the night they looked to continue that run with a win over the Mount, but a late run by the Lions got the game into overtime and they pulled away in the extra period

The Lions led only once over the first 37 minutes of game action, leading 12-9 at the 12:36 mark of the first half. Berea led for almost the entire game, including stretching their advantage out to a game-high 17 points with 14:21 to play in the game. From that moment the Lions got to work clawing back into the game. They finally cut the lead to single digits with 6:28 to play on a layup by Jason Lavender. They would finally tie the game at 63 with 4:00 to go on an oustanding three-point play by Joe Brand. Berea answered with a two pointer to regain the lead again, but the Lions answered immediately with a three from Braden Miller to take their first lead since the first half. 

Berea would go on a 4-0 run to take another narrow lead, but the Lions would close the game on a 4-0 run of their own to force overtime. With 18 seconds to play Elisha Jones made a layup to cut the lead in half. Berea got the ball back with a chance to run the rest of the clock out or seal the game at the free throw line, but they forced a turnover with Brand getting the steal setting upt hte game tying basket. With 7 seconds to go Michael Loftis made a layup to tie the game again, and Berea missed a buzzer beater to send the game to overtime. 

The overtime period began with a technical foul on Berea, Brand drilled both three pointers. Then on their first offensive possession Brand drilled a three to give them a five point lead. Berea did not go away as they answered with a 6-0 run to take the lead right back with 3:18 left in OT. From that point the Lions defense would hold Berea scoreless, eventually winning the game 83-76.

Lavender led the way for the Lions with 21 points off the bench in the game. They had three others in double-figures as Brand (12), Loftis (11) and Luke Collinsworth (10) each scored in double figures. Braden Miller and Dale Bush gave the Lions great minutes off the bench, Bush had six points and six rebounds and Miller added 6 points and 7 rebounds. 

UP NEXT:
The Lions will be the #6 seed in the upcoming HCAC Tournament and be on the road to open the tournament. There is still a slate of game scheduled for Wednesday in HCAC play, after which there will be an announcement of the matchups.