Sat., Jan. 31, 2009

   INDIANAPOLIS -- Talk about ending the month in a foul mood.
   That's how the University of Saint Francis and Marian College closed out January on Saturday committing 64 fouls and shooting 88 free throws before USF walked away with a 90-84 win in overtime. USF won despite losing four starters with five fouls apiece.
   Austin Leisure hit 13-of-14 free throws including 5-of-6 in overtime, DeJovaun Sawyer-Davis scored 21 points in the second half and OT, and freshman Kevin Dawson posted career highs for USF, which is 15-10, 7-4 in Mid-Central College Conference play.
   Sawyer-Davis, who scored four points in OT before he was whistled for his fifth foul, finished with 26 points despite only playing nine minutes in the first half. Matt Edmonds delivered a much needed double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Leisure finished with 15 points and Dawson scored 10 points and grabbed seven rebounds, both career bests for the freshman from Northrop High School.
   "That may be an all-time record," a relieved USF coach Jeff Rekeweg said referring to the 35 fouls that were called on the Cougars. The Knights (10-11, 1-10 MCC) were whistled for 29. USF connected on 32 of 42 for the game, MC 30 of 46. In overtime USF connected on 10 of 13 free throws, MC 5 of 11.
   With Sawyer-Davis, Nate Bojrab and Edmonds out of the game with five fouls, a freshman made the play of the game.
   "Kevin made a huge play," Rekeweg said emphatically. "We ran a ball screen, Kevin was wide right and cut back door. Austin got the pass to Kevin and he finished the play and drew the foul. Great heads up play between Kevin and Austin. I was relieved because if we don't score there, there wasn't much time left and the way they were knocking down tough shots, getting a cushion at that point made me feel pretty good about our chances."
  Dawson's 3-point play with 1:13 to play in OT gave USF an 86-82 lead just 14 seconds after Anthony Furlin converted a 3-point play for Knights slashing the USF lead to 83-82 with 1:27 to play.
  After Brandon Buscher missed the first free throw, then made the second with 59 seconds to play, Leisure drew a foul and hit both free throws with 29 seconds to play pushing the USF lead to 88-83. With 16 seconds to play, Jordan Tucker hit the second of two free throws for the Knights cutting the lead to 88-84, Leisure added a free throw with 15 seconds, J.R. Howell missed a 3-pointer, and Dawson hit one of two free throws with seven seconds left to finish the scoring.
  MC led once in OT when Tucker hit the second of two free-throw attempts for a 77-76 lead with 4:08 to play. Bojrab hit the second of two free-throw attempts with 3:40 to play to tie the game at 77. MC's Jameson Wheeler missed a jumper and Furlin fouled Sawyer-Davis as he grabbed the rebound. Sawyer-Davis hit both free throws with 2:55 to play and USF led the rest of the way.
   The Cougars outscored the Knights 14-8 in overtime after MC outscored USF 49-47 in the second half to send the game into OT tied at 76. USF led 29-27 at the half.
   MC led by a point twice early in the first half, but a Ferdinand Morales-Soto hit a jumper and after a Tucker missed layup, Dawson drilled a 3-pointer at 5:05 for a 24-18 USF lead. MC outscored USF 9-5 to cut the difference to two by halftime.
  In the second half, the Cougars built its lead to 36-27 on two Leisure free throws, a Sawyer-Davis 3-point play, and two Bojrab free throws. Edmonds made it 10 with a tip-in with 14:03 to play, 48-38. Bojrab hit a jumper with 12:48 to play for a 52-43 lead, but the Knights didn't fold. MC outscored USF 26-16 taking a 69-68 lead on a Furlin jumper with 3:27 to play. Edmonds scored for a 70-69 lead with 3:07 to play. After trading the lead one more time, Bojrab put USF in front 76-73 with a layup with 22 seconds to play. Burlin hit a 3-pointer with eight seconds to play forging the fourth tie in the game. Sawyer-Davis missed a jumper at the buzzer forcing overtime.
  "Dey made some huge plays even though he only played nine minutes in the first half," Rekeweg said. "He came in and hit a 23-foot 3-pointer. We've still got play smarter. We fouled three times on 3-pointers, two that they in in the second half for 4-point plays. Another one they missed the free throw attempt. Marian made some plays, hit some shots, but we just have to play smarter at times."
   USF resumes play next Saturday, Feb. 7, with a home game against Goshen College at 3 p.m.