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Despite overcoming a 22-point deficit to force overtime, the Rams fell to St. Catharine, Thursday evening.

Tim Hartin

February 14, 2013

Despite overcoming a 22-point deficit to force overtime and 35 points from Byron Carpenter, the Bluefield College men’s basketball team dropped an exciting road Mid-South Conference contest Thursday evening against St. Catharine, 86-89.

It was the Rams’ second-straight overtime contest and their third of the year. The defeat drops BC to 8-16 overall and 3-14 in MSC games. St. Catharine improves to 13-0, 9-8 MSC.

Carpenter posted his season high 35 points on 13-for-23 shooting (56.5%) from the field and a perfect 9-for-9 from the free throw line. He also added 12 rebounds, notching one of four double-doubles in the game. Pierre Walters tossed in 18 points and grabbed 12 rebounds as well, while Kearsten Marion and Devin Page added 11 and 10, respectively, for the Rams.

Travis Wilkins and Arthur McMillan scored 21 apiece for the victorious Patriots, as the duo combined for 19-for-26 shooting on the evening. Wilkins pulled down 11 rebounds as well. William Tolefree scored 14 points and controlled 11 caroms. Omar Skinner rounded out the top scorers with 12 points.

The Rams and Patriots battled back and forth through the opening eight minutes of game action, with the sixth tie of the game coming at 12:16, at 16-16. From there, the homestanding Patriots blistered the Rams for a 32-11 run and gained a 21-point advantage with 2:33 left in the half.

Walters, Carpenter and Eric Swift then tallied the half’s final three baskets to pull the deficit to 15, 50-35 at the break.

In the second half, the Rams closed to within 11 points at the 17:02 mark, but a 12-1 St. Catharine run stretched the lead to its largest margin of the game at 22, 67-45, with 12:30 remaining in the game.

However, Bluefield responded much like it did last weekend against Rio Grande when facing a large deficit, posting a strong second half run. Over the next 7:46, the Rams outscored St. Catharine 22-3, bringing the score to 70-67 in favor of the Patriots with 4:44 left in regulation.

St. Catharine extended its lead back to eight on several occasions, but a 9-1 Rams run over the final 2:16 pulled Bluefield even and forced overtime. With under a minute to go alone, Josh Nesbit cut the lead down to 4, before Carpenter added a basket and a free throw. Marion then leveled the game with 10 seconds remaining as he made one of two free throws to force the extra five minutes.

In overtime, the Patriots scored the first basket and never trailed again. Bluefield squared the game thanks to a Carpenter basket with less than one minute remaining, but a three-point play by Wilkins gave the Patriots the final points it needed on the evening. The Rams had multiple possessions in the waning seconds, but could not find the basket.

Bluefield claimed the slight rebounding edge on the evening, 45-43, and grabbed 20 offensive rebounds.

St. Catharine finished the night shooting 34-for-67 (50.7%) from the floor, but only 16-for-29 (55.2%) from the free throw line. Bluefield was 14-for-17 (82.4%) on free throws and 34-for-78 (43.6%) from the field.

The Rams conclude their regular-season road schedule on Saturday afternoon against Georgetown. Tip is scheduled for 4 p.m.

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