KINGSTON, Ont. (February 12, 2016)- In a contest where the Queen's Gaels men's basketball team looked to be staring down its first defeat in three games, a wild series of events culminated in an unlikely, thrilling comeback victory at the Athletics and Recreation Centre (ARC) on Friday evening. After tying the contest with nearly no time left in regulation courtesy of three free throw shots by Sukhpreet Singh, the Gaels completed the comeback in the extra period to defeat the Western Mustangs 99-93.
 
Tanner Graham notched a game-high 24 points, and Mike Shoveller added 16 for the Gaels (10-5), while Peter Scholtes led the Mustangs (8-8) with 21 in a game that looked to be won by the visitors, who were up by five with 28 seconds remaining, and then four with under 10 seconds left.
 
After a three-pointer by Andrew Mavety (Vancouver, B.C.), which cut the lead to one with around five seconds left, Alex Coote sunk both his foul shots with 3.8 seconds on the clock. With no timeouts remaining, Singh received the inbounds and sprinted down the sideline, and as he threw up a prayer from just inside the half-court line, the whistle blew, and the signal for a shooting foul was given.
 
After an eruption from the crowd and benches alike, and a small meeting amongst the three officials, Singh stepped to the line with 0.5 seconds left, and, with ice in his veins, drained all three of his free throws to send the game into overtime.
 
Sparked with new vigor in the extra period, the Gaels outpaced Western to victory, helped by two steals from Singh in the overtime that allowed Queen's to pull away in the final minutes.  
 
GAME FLOW
The hosts jumped out to a 16-10 lead through the first 10 minutes of the game, thanks to a big opening quarter performance by Shoveller (Arnprior, Ont.). The 6'11'' tower sank two three-pointers and totalled 10 points in the first quarter alone, sparking the Gaels on a 12-2 run to open the game. The Mustangs drained eight of the next 10 points to cut into the early Queen's lead before the end of the period.
 
After Queen's picked up five of the second quarter's first six points to go up by 10, the visitors offense took flight, and a 10-2 run by the Mustangs brought them within a point of the Gael lead. Coote's three-pointer, Western's fourth consecutive bucket from beyond the arc, put the Mustangs ahead 28-25 with 3:17 left in the half.
 
The guests would hold a 33-31 lead at the break. Queen's shot 46.4%, compared to 39.3% from the Mustangs, but the difference through the opening two quarters was the three-point efficiency. The Gaels were 3-of-15, while Western shot 6-of-12.
 
Sammy Ayisi drained back-to-back three's to give his team back the lead early in the third quarter. The men maintained a small lead past the midway point of the quarter. After a three by the Mustangs brought them within a possession of tying the match, Graham (Kingston) doubled the Gael lead with a corner three after a drive and dish by Ayisi (Toronto).
 
The sophomore guard then found Russell Winters (Long Island, N.Y.) in the low post for another two points, helping maintaining the Gael advantage. It was a strong third quarter for Ayisi, who after forcing a Mustang turnover was fouled. He sank both his free-throws, giving the hosts a 56-50 lead at the end of three quarters.
 
Graham drained another three to start the fourth quarter by putting the Gaels up by nine, and Sukhpreet Singh maintained that with a deep three off the glass a couple of minutes later. The Mustangs battled back, however, and another deep jumper by Coote sliced the deficit down to two with just under five minutes left.
 
The Mustangs tied the game soon after, and responded twice more to even the game before Anthony Spiridis gave the visitors their first lead with under two minutes to go in regulation. Greg Morrow then extended the Western lead twice more, giving them a five point lead with 28.2 seconds left after the Gaels could not convert on their previous possession. The miracle comeback bid began with a Singh three with just under 20 seconds left. The Toronto native, whose minutes were severely limited by early foul trouble, recorded 12 of his 14 points in the fourth quarter and overtime.
 
FINAL SAY
"We wanted to pressure them and didn't do that in the first half really well," said Head Coach Steph Barry. They're very good defensively and made some three's. In the second half we got the pace of the game up and pressed them a bit more. We did that in the third quarter, and they adjusted well in the fourth. Realistically, the deciding factor before the last play of the game was we executed what we needed to in order to get that opportunity. In overtime, we gained some new life and used that to our advantage."
 
BY THE NUMBERS
9- The Gaels scored nine points in 18 seconds to force overtime
6- Sukhpreet Singh hit six of his seven free-throw attempts
80%- As a team, the Gaels were 24 of 30 (80%) from the foul-line, seven points higher than their season average.
 
UP NEXT
The Gaels return to the ARC on Saturday evening looking for their fourth-straight win when they host the Windsor Lancers. Tip-off is set for 8:00 p.m.