Men's Basketball: ‘Old Valpo play’ robs Bruins of title trip

POINT LOOKOUT, Mo. — The memories of Valparaiso’s Bryce Drew and his heroics in the 1998 NCAA tournament were alive and well at the NAIA tournament on Monday.

Walsh’s Jeremy Shardo drained a 3-pointer at the final buzzer to lift the top-seeded Cavaliers to a 67-66 semifinal triumph over Bellevue University.

Walsh inbounded the ball with 2.4 seconds left under Bellevue’s basket. Brandon Speck lofted a half-court bomb to Ricky Jackson, who immediately found Shardo in front of the Cavaliers’ bench. Shardo received the pass without much resistance from Bellevue defenders, turned and hit nothing but net.

It went just as Walsh coach Jeff Youngs diagrammed it and just as former Valparaiso coach Homer Drew did for his son, Bryce, in the 1998 NCAA tournament.

“The old Valpo play,” Bellevue coach Shane Paben said with a sigh. “I’m going to replay that one in my mind a few times.”

Shardo’s first image upon seeing Youngs chart the play on his dry-erase board in the Walsh huddle was also Drew and his winning 3-pointer that beat Mississippi State. Shardo was in elementary school when Drew became a national darling.

“That play was going through my head during the timeout when (Youngs) he drew up the play,” Shardo said. “I didn’t watch that game, but I’ve seen the highlights. I always dreamed of hitting that kind of shot.”

Bellevue (28-8) was denied its third trip to the championship game, thanks to a second-half collapse that saw the Bruins blow a 50-35 lead with 13 minutes to play.

No one was happier to see Shardo’s shot sink than teammate L. J. Sutton. He missed a layup with six seconds remaining. Naturally, Sutton was one of the many Cavaliers who hugged Shardo.

“He thanked me in the locker room after the game,” Shardo said. “He said, ‘You saved me.’”

There was no savior for Bellevue guard Avery Tyler. He missed two free throws with three seconds remaining, and he was 1 of 5 from the foul line in the second half.

Tyler scored just five of his 20 points after intermission.

“He’s heartbroken right now,” Paben said. “But without him, we would not be here. I commend him on his outstanding season.”

Walsh (31-2) had trailed just once in its first three tourney games, a 2-0 deficit in its quarterfinal win over Embry-Riddle. But the Cavaliers were chasing Bellevue the entire first half, falling behind by as many as 15 points at 21-6.

“They had us down the whole game,” Shardo said. “But great teams fight through it.”

Tyler had 15 points in the first 18 minutes and was 6 of 8 from the field in the first half.

Walsh entered halftime with momentum, though, scoring the final seven points of the first half to draw within 37-31.

Speck helped trigger Walsh’s rally by hitting two 3-pointers down the stretch. He and Shardo combined for 16 second-half points.

The Bruins held Jackson, averaging 25 points in the first three rounds, to 12 points.

Bellevue center Antoine Dade scored 12 points, and Josh Vanderslice had nine. Dade and De’Shawn Howard combined to block six shots, five times swatting a Jackson attempt.

“We did an outstanding job on Jackson,” Paben said. “We played the game we needed to play to win. But they hit the shot at the end.”

Said Youngs: “They outplayed us for all but the last 2.4 seconds, no question about it. I tell the guys all the time lady luck is on their side, and it was so on our side tonight.”

Bellevue won 25 of its final 27 games to gain the semifinals.

“We made a great run and have nothing to hang our heads about,” Paben said. “We’ve got some guys coming back and hopefully we can bring in some good recruits so we can get back here.”

Bellevue (28-8).........................37 29—66

Walsh (32-2)............................31 36—67

B: Dade 3-9 6-6 12, Johnson 2-3 3-4 7, Fredenburg 2-8 0-0 6, Tyler 8-15 3-8 20, King 2-10 0-0 6, Marion 1-1 0-0 2, M. Perez 0-2 0-2 0, Williams 0-0 0-0 0, Vanderslice 4-10 0-0 9, C. Perez 0-0 0-0 0, Diop 2-2 0-0 4, Totals: 24-60 12-20 66.

W: Sutton 4-9 0-1 8, Jackson 5-19 2-3 12, Cescato 1-2 1-2 3, Skeeter 4-9 2-4 10, Shardo 4-9 8-8 18, Knight 2-4 1-2 5, Speck 4-9 0-0 11, Howard 0-0 0-0 0, Kornowski 0-1 0-0 0, Totals: 24-62 14-20 67.

3-point shooting: Bellevue (6-23) — Fredenburg 2-7, Tyler 1-2, King 2-8, M. Perez 0-1, Vanderslice 1-5. Walsh (5-13) Jackson 0-3, Shardo 2-4, Speck 3-6. Rebounds: Bellevue 32 (Tyler 9). Wash 41 (Jackson 10). Assists: Bellevue 6 (Tyler 2). Walsh 8 (Skeeter 2, Shardo 2). Turnovers: Bellevue 6. Walsh 9. Fouls: Bellevue 19, Walsh 17. Fouled out: Bellevue, King. Walsh: Sutton. Field-goal percentage: Bellevue .400, Walsh .387. Free-throw percentage: Bellevue .600, Walsh .700. Technical fouls: None. Attendance: 548.

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444-1201, sports@owh.com

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