Sat., Feb. 7, 2009

   FORT WAYNE, Ind. -- Jeff Rekeweg was signaling two points. Nate Bojrab knew his foot was on the line. And when the officiating crew confirmed it, the University of Saint Francis let out a collective sigh of relief.
   USF held off Goshen College 89-88 in overtime when Errick McCollum's jumper at the end of OT was ruled a 2-pointer, not a 3-pointer as the Maple Leafs and their fans thought. McCollum finished with a scintillating 43 points, but it wasn't enough to prolong the Leafs' bid for the upset over the 38th-rated Cougars.
   "I was keepin' my eyes on his feet," USF senior guard Nate Bojrab said after scoring 24 points. "He was on the line, no doubt about it."
   McCollum, who came into the game No. 2 in Mid-Central College Conference scoring behind USF's DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis, reclaimed the lead, but it didn't matter to Sawyer-Davis.
   "All that mattered was gettin' that 'W' today," Sawyer-Davis said after he scored 26 points, 20 in the second half. "The points and scoring doesn't really mean anything. We want to get to the national tournament, so I'm gonna do whatever this team needs to get the win. Mac had quite a game. We talk online once in awhile, but the points thing doesn't come up. Nate, Matt, Kreigh all hit some big shots, made some big plays. Ferdie may have made the play of the game. It takes everybody."
   'Ferdie' Morales-Soto fronted McCollum as the clock ran toward zero and forced the GC junior guard to step toward the basket as he launched what he hoped would be the game-tying shot at the end of OT.
  "Ferdie did a great job on that play of defending above him and forcing him to take up to take the shot," Rekeweg said. "Austin (Leisure) did a great job while he was in there, but Ferdie's length and athleticism made the difference on that play."
   Now 16-10 overall and 8-4 in MCC play, Kreigh Hentrup gave USF the one point the Cougars needed to win with nine seconds to play in overtime. He missed the second, so nobody in Hutzell Athletic Center was happier to see McCollum step on the 3-point line. Hentrup was apologetic for missing that free throw, but he drilled a 3-pointer with 3:56 to play in overtime to give USF its biggest lead of the game, 84-81.
  "They doubled down on Dey, so I had to take the shot," Hentrup said. "It sure felt good. We just couldn't seem to get any separation."
   McCollum, who scored eight of GC's nine points in OT, hit two free throws at 2:19 cutting the GC deficit to 84-82. Bojrab countered with a 3-pointer for an 87-82 USF lead with 1:44 to play. McCollum hit two more free throws at 1:34 and GC only trailed 87-84. Hentrup missed the first free throw, made the second with 19 seconds to play. McCollum drove the length of the floor scoring on a layup with 15 seconds to set up the final drama.
   Matt Edmonds was the fourth Cougar to crack double figures scoring 18 points before he fouled out in overtime. He also snared 13 rebounds for a double-double. McCollum also finished with a double-double grabbing 11 rebounds, though the Maple Leafs fell to 14-12 overall, 5-7 in MCC play.
   In a game that had 13 lead changes and four ties, Kyle Laker scored at 16:30 in the first half for a 13-12 GC lead that the Leafs held until Bojrab scored for a 32-31 USF lead with 8:36 to play in the first half. Nate West scored at 8:17 for a 33-32 GC lead which the Leafs built to 12, 49-37, with 47 seconds left before Bojrab blasted in a 3-pointer slashing the GC lead to 49-40 by halftime.
   The Leafs led by seven three times in the second half, the last at 71-64 with 6:33 to play. Sawyer-Davis finally tied the game at 79 on two free throws with 1:09 to play. He blocked a McCollum shot with 34 seconds to play to preserve the tie and McCollum missed a running jumper at the buzzer forcing the Cougars' sixth overtime game this season.
  "Early in the season we lost some of these close games, but we're learning to win these close games now," Bojrab said. "They played much better than they did they first time. They're really improved."
   McCollum was three points short of the GC single-game record of 46 points (Moe Miller, 1969, vs. Manchester). He scored 17 points in the first half.
   "He earned every one of those points," Rekeweg said. "He didn't take any shots where he had space. He had one of the best scoring exhibitions I've ever seen and you've got to give him credit knocking shots down.
   "We did a better job taking care of the ball in the second half, outscored them on second-effort points and we converted their turnovers into points in the second half," Rekeweg said. "That's what made the difference."