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COUNCIL BLUFFS — Iowa Western made a horrible decision in fouling Shavontae Samuels with 3.9 seconds left in regulation.
But it made a great decision in getting the ball to Emarri Bailey in overtime.
Bailey scored nine of the Reivers' first 11 points in the extra session, bailing out the hosts Tuesday night in an 88-83 junior college men's basketball victory over Central (Neb.) Community College at Kanesville Arena.
Iowa Western (20-6), a Division I juco program, was coming off a 72-69 overtime win at conference rival and No. 18-ranked Southeastern on Saturday. The Reivers took a step back on Tuesday, coach Jim Morris said.
“I don't want to take anything away from them, but our effort was nowhere near where it needs to be,'' Morris said. “I thought there would maybe be a little bit of a fallback from that Saturday night game, but not to that degree.''
The Division II Raiders, of Columbus, chased Iowa Western to the wire, with several former Omaha-area standouts leading the way.
Ian Sitz's 15-footer cut the Reivers' lead to 70-68 with less than 20 seconds left in regulation. Auburn recruit Anthony Salters made 1 of 2 free throws for the Reivers, then Central called timeout with 8.6 seconds left, down by three.
The Raiders surprisingly elected to go for a layup, and even more surprisingly, JR Weathers fouled Samuels, who made an acrobatic bucket with 3.9 seconds left. Samuels, from St. Edward, Neb., rolled in the free throw, and the teams went to a five-minute overtime.
That's when Bailey, a 6-foot-6 freshman from Jacksonville, Fla., asserted himself. After scoring just four points in the first 40 minutes, he drained four jumpers and a free throw in the first 3:10 of overtime.
His final basket, a 17-footer, put the Reivers ahead.
“One of my sophomores, Shay Shine, told me to be aggressive,'' Bailey said. “He said, ‘If they sag off, shoot it.' I did what he asked me to do.''
Iowa Western led 86-80 with 44.8 seconds left when Jimmy Williams made the first of two free throws. But then the Reivers missed five straight free throws.
It was that kind of night for the home team. Salters finally iced it with a pair of free throws with 6.3 seconds left.
“Yeah, they have more talent,'' Central coach Damon Vogt said. “There's no doubt about it.
“I think our guys made plays. What killed us was the free-throw line.''
The Raiders are sixth in the country at their level in free-throw accuracy at about 74 percent. Tuesday, they were 19 of 32 (59.4 percent).
Omaha Central graduate Lorenzo Wilson led the Raiders with 15 points and 15 rebounds. Samuels also had 15 points, and another Central grad, Donald Jones, had 14 points.
Sitz, of O'Neill, Neb., and Steville Burns (Omaha Benson) added 11 points each for Central.
Salter scored 15 of his game-high 17 after the break to lead Iowa Western.
“You could tell we weren't ready for the game mentally,'' Bailey said. “We came out slow. I guess (coach) felt like we weren't playing hard.''
Morris was so frustrated with his team's effort that he held his team in the locker room after the game. Once the fans cleared out, he planned to bring them out for some extra running.
“I haven't done that for a lot of years, but I'm not accepting that,'' Morris said.
Central (16-9).................................31 40 12—83
Iowa Western (20-6).....................40 31 17—88
C: Taylor Murren 3-7 0-0 8, Donald Jones 7-12 0-2 14, Shavontae Samuels 5-17 5-5 15, Lorenzo Wilson 6-13 3-4 15, Ian Sitz 4-6 2-3 11, Jacob Woslager 4-7 0-2 9, Jay Battle 0-1 0-0 0, Steville Burns 1-4 9-16 11, Trenton Ptacek 0-0 0-0 0, AJ Adams 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 30-68 19-32 83.
IW: Wesley Cox 0-3 0-0 0, Jimmy Williams 0-1 1-4 1, Jeff Allgood 3-9 1-4 10, Sammy Emile 2-6 2-2 6, Petey Hausley 4-5 3-5 11, Anthony Salter 6-9 5-9 17, Shay Shine 2-5 2-4 7, Charlie Westbrook 7-9 0-0 15, KC Rodenburg 0-0 0-0 0, Emarri Bailey 6-8 1-2 13, JR Weathers 3-4 0-2 8. Totals: 33-59 17-32 88.
3-point goals: C 4-14 (Murren 2-6, Woslager 1-1, Sitz 1-2, Wilson 0-1, Adams 0-1, Samuels 0-3), IW 5-20 (Allgood 3-8, Westbrook 1-1, Shine 1-3, Bailey 0-1, Emile 0-1, Cox 0-3, Salter 0-3). Total fouls: C 27, IW 22. Fouled out: Samuels, Sitz, Woslager, Emile. Technical fouls: none. Rebounds: C 42 (Wilson 15), IW 30 (Williams 8). Assists: C 7 (Woslager 3), IW 7 (Salter 3). Steals: C 7 (Burns 2), IW 6 (Williams, Westbrook 2). Turnovers: C 17, IW 18.
Contact the writer:
444-1055, kevin.white@owh.com
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