Maurice Dixon
@WriturRece | mdixon27@gmail.com
ATLANTA – Against Clark Atlanta a few days ago, Tyrius Walker and Ayinde Russell both had the hot hand for Morehouse. Walker stayed in the zone and Russell eventually got his shot to fall as well against Miles but there wasn’t a blowout this time around.
Matter of fact, the Maroon Tigers needed overtime for a 93-84 home win over the Golden Bears at Forbes Arena, where Walker had game highs of 33 points and seven assists February 16 in a SIAC contest.
With less than 60 seconds left, Morehouse (14-9) had two chances to add to its two-point lead and possibly secure a second consecutive win but Walker and Martravious Little (15 points) both missed the front end of a 1-and-1.
As a result of the door still being open for Miles to tie or take the lead, E. Reginald Smalls (22 points) made his way into the lane and dished the ball off to Shaquille Cook (16 points, 15 rebounds) for the game-tying layin and a 77-77 score with 12 seconds remaining.
On the other end, Duby Maduegbunam had the chance to send the gym into a frenzy but his 3 from the corner fell short as time expired.
In the extra session, Walker opened the scoring with a pair of free throws before nailing his fourth 3-pointer of the game for an 82-77 edge. Then Omar Alston added a layup to cap the 7-0 run. Later in overtime, Little slammed home a rebound with one hand and Alston converted a layin while being fouled before Walker eventually iced the game at the foul line.
Russell, who made five 3-pointers against Clark Atlanta, didn’t get into the scoring column until after halftime against Miles (7-15). During one stretch, Russell scored nine straight points for the Maroon Tigers. Then later in the half, the 6-3 sophomore netted eight consecutive points, including a 3-pointer, a three-point play and a jumper for 17 in all.
Walker and Little also had moments like that in the first half. Little scored seven of his team’s points in a row then Walker netted Morehouse’s final eight points of the half.
Carl Garcia had 14 points and Sheldon Wright added 13 for the Golden Bears, who held the lead for much of contest and shot a better percentage overall but committed 27 turnovers which Morehouse converted into 31 points.