Reading, Pa. (March 12, 2021) - First-year
Jakob Kelly nailed a 3-pointer as time expired in overtime in one of the most chaotic finishes in the rivalry's history as Alvernia University (5-2, 4-2) downed Albright College (6-3, 5-2) 83-81 in overtime MAC Commonwealth Men's Basketball on Friday night at Albright.
With 11 seconds remaining in overtime, Albright's Sam Majekodunmi forced a turnover by Alvernia's Malik Green. But, Alvernia's Avery Walker forced the ball back into the hands of the Golden Wolves on a tip off of a pass by Albright's Sidney Brown. Walker dribbled along the baseline and nearly lost control of the ball, but the junior was able to pass the ball up the court to Keon Taylor. Taylor sent in a long bass to Jakob Kelly, positioned off Alvernia's bench just inside the arc, but Albright's Troy Smoot was able to get a hand on it. Kelly grabbed the deflection, stepped back beyond the arc and let go of the three point shot with 0.2 seconds left on the clock. As the buzzer went off, Kelly's shot drained through the net to give Alvernia the 83-81 win.
The Golden Wolves started the game off hot, jumping out to a 9-0 run in the opening four minutes. Alvernia would extend its lead to as much as 18, 24-6, on a free throw by Green with 12:03 left in the half.
For as hot as Alvernia started the half, the Golden Wolves would go cold to close it out. A layup by Keon Taylor with 7:13 left in the half put Alvernia up 32-19, but it would be the last field goal Alvernia scored in the half. The Lions took advantage, tying the game at 32-32 on an Isaiah Harris layup with 3:27Â left in the half.
Albright would take the lead on a Jordan Guerrero layup on the next possession, and build its lead up to seven, 39-32, on a Smoot three with 1:48 remaining. A free throw from Walker would be Alvernia's only point of the final seven minutes, which cut Albright's lead down to six, 39-33 with 42 seconds to play. The Lion's converted a layup in the final seconds of the half as Albright went into the break with a 41-33 lead.Â
"The first half we started out really well, but we struggled at the end of the half," said Head Coach Mike Miller. "We actually put our heads down, we started to quit a little bit."
"So at the half I put it to them," added Coach Miller. "I said 'you're either going to quit and we'll pack in the year now, or you're going to come out and play hard the second half.' We played as hard as we could in that second half."
After the Lions scored the opening points of the half on a Sidney Brown layup to go up ten, 43-33, the Golden Wolves began to battle back.
Green sank a layup to cut Alvernia's deficit down to eight, and Alvernia's Rece Harman forced a turnover on the next possession and Green took the steal and knocked down a three to make it 45-38 in favor of the Lions.Â
Alvernia again forced another turnover less than a minute later, this time on a steal by Taylor, and Green again drained a three for the Golden Wolves to cut the deficit to two, 43-41, with 15:40 remaining in regulation.Â
The Lions held on to a one possession lead over the next three minutes before a layup by Taylor put Alvernia back ahead, 49-48, with 12:08 remaining.
The two teams traded three pointers and the lead over the next two minutes, but a three pointer by Green tied it back up at 55-55 and a layup by Green with 8:05 remaining put Alvernia up 57-55.
The Lions retook the lead three minutes later on a three from Majekodunmi and the Lions held onto the lead for the next three minutes.Â
Green continued his hot hand and sank a three off a turnover to tie it back up again, 69-69, with 2:43 remaining.Â
Fouls would hurt the Golden Wolves in the final two minutes, twice giving Albright an opportunity to stay in it. The Lions took advantage and tied it at 73-73 on a Majekoudnmi free throw with 50 seconds remaining.Â
Both teams had a look at the end of regulation but were unable to convert, sending the game into OT.
The Lions scored the opening points of overtime on a Smoot jumper and extended it tow four points on a layup from Corey Simmons with 3:30 remaining in overtime.
Albright held a four point advantage for the majority of overtime, but a layup and converted and-one by Steve Pierce with under a minute remaining in OT put Alvernia back within one 81-80.
The following sequence would result in Kelly getting the ball just inside the line as time expired. Kelly took the step back and sank the game winner to give Alvernia the 83-81 win.
"The ball was bouncing around the back court and Keon [Taylor] threw it up to me, but it got tipped," said Kelly. "The bench was yelling 'shoot it' so I just did, and it went in."
"It felt good leaving my hand," added Kelly. "I thought it might go little long, but it went in."
"He's made shots like that in high school," said Miller of the first year forward. "He's calm in those kinds of situations, and that showed."
Malik Green tied his career-high with 34 points on the night along with seven rebounds. Keon Taylor finished with 15 and Walker with 13. Kelly finished with eight points and six rebounds. Harman led Alvernia with nine boards.
Alvernia finishes the regular season at third place in the MAC Commonwealth. The Golden Wolves will host the three seed of the MAC Freedom on Thursday in a crossover game. The matchup will be finalized on Monday when the Freedom finishes out its schedule.
Check out the video of the buzzer beater at the Tweet below (Video Credit to Albright Athletics):
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