February 15 was an important day for the Blackburn men’s basketball team. It was a day which controlled the destiny of a team looking to get into the conference tournament. A day of remembering the careers of their seniors: Jake Maestranzi, Willie Orange, Chris Davis, DeAndre Manuel and Damon Goodloe Jr. It was also a day of almosts and lost chances.
In basketball, when a team shoots anywhere above 40 percent from the field, it’s considered pretty shooting, so when the Beavers went to the locker room at halftime up 35-30 against a team that was shooting over 50 percent, the gym was filled with mixed emotions. Some were thrilled that their team was winning and felt good about how they anticipated the second half to go, while others just weren’t sure and had that gut feeling. ‘The others’ appeared to be right.
The Spalding Eagles came out firing with nothing to lose having already been eliminated from a possible postseason but the Beavers did an excellent job of weathering the storm and the astounding field goal percentage by the Eagles. The second half was back and forth and featured nine lead changes and three ties, leaving everyone on the edge of their seats and looking for something to hold onto as the final seconds ticked by.
With 1:00 left on the clock and Blackburn down 58-56, things got interesting when Eagle James Turner turned the ball over into the Beavers hands and led to an eventual trip to the free throw line for DeAndre Manuel who finished as the game’s high scorer with 22 points. He split the free throws and brought the Beavers to within one.
As time continued to count down, Tommy Childs came up with a big steal with under 12 seconds to give the Beavers a chance. The ball was quickly brought down the court and Reed Rusten found the hands of Malcolm Scott who finished a huge reverse layup to give a 59-58 lead.
With three seconds left, Spalding’s Rylan Rowe sprinted past half court and let off a shot with a prayer. The gym seemed to move in slow motion and silence as the ball floated, then erupted as the shot missed. The celebration was short lived as a referee whistle could be heard signifying a shooting foul and giving the Eagles three free throws. The Eagles converted all three attempts and prevented Blackburn from firing up a final shot, ending the team’s hopes of making the conference tournament.