You've heard of all the worn out battle cries; "never say die", "remain calm", "don't hit the panic button"…..
All of those adages and maybe even a few more must have rang true for Coach Richard Tharp and his Kent State at Tuscarawas basketball team on Saturday, as the Golden Eagles fell behind early but rallied themselves with a strong second half to take down Villa Maria College in Buffalo, NY, 84-78.
The host Vikings came out shooting and ripped off 10 straight points for an early 10-0 lead. The Golden Eagles were on the ropes until RaShawn Robinson found Braden Rostad for a backdoor layup and KSU's first basket at the 14:51 mark. Gunnar Tharp added a triple seconds later and the lead was cut in half at 10-5.
Each time Villa forged ahead, the Navy and Gold responded. Trailing 15-7, Robinson made a steal on the right wing and raced down court for an uncontested layup. When Villa misfired on their next possession, Rostad rained down a triple of his own to the slice the lead to 15-12.
With six minutes left in the opening half the Golden Eagles trailed by 17 (35-18), the largest deficit of the period. It was then they shifted into high gear, getting long range bombs from Andre Leavell, Rostad and Tharp, along with two steals by Leavell that led to coast-to-coast layups to cut the lead to 38-31 with three minutes left to play.
The Eagles got two more triples in the final 1:25 and were within 40-37 before Villa scored on a runner in the lane to take a 42-37 lead into the locker room.
Rostad and Tharp combined on 8/15 shooting from the behind the arc in the first half and scored 14 and 12 points respectively. Leavell added nine much needed points off the bench to keep things close.
The second half was much different. The Golden Eagles were the aggressors scoring seven unanswered points out of the locker room to take their first lead of the game 44-42. With things tied at 49-49, the Eagles went on another tear with treys from Tharp and Keenan Philpott and a layup by Leavell for a 57-49 edge. They stretched that lead to 10 points (62-52) after Tharp tripled again and a layup by Philpott who played inspired ball off the bench.
The lead was 79-69 with 4:29 left to play, before the Vikings answered the bell with a 7-0 streak of their own to trail just 79-76 with 1:39 left.
The Eagles Jeremy Allen added a free throw and a layup streaking to the baseline on a great find by Tharp with :24 seconds left for an 82-78 margin. Tharp also added two free throws to break the will of the hosts and preserve the victory.
Nine Golden Eagles scored in the game led by Tharp with 23 points. He converted on six shots from behind the arc and was a perfect 5/5 from the free throw line. Leavell added 19 points to go along with three steals, while Rostad made 4/7 three-point shots and totaled 14 points.
The Eagles got 32 points from their bench and shot 54% for the game making 33/61 field goal attempts. They made 12/28 from behind the arc (43%) and held a 36-31 rebounding edge.
With the win, the Golden Eagles improve their record to 6-9 on the season
Next week the Eagles play three games. On Tuesday they travel of Andrews University in a 5:30 p.m. tip, on Thursday they visit Penn State Beaver at 7:00 p.m. and then return home on Saturday for a 3:00 p.m. game against Penn State New Kensington.
Andre Leavell scored 19 points and had three steals at Villa Maria.
Braden Rostad scored 14 points against Villa Maria. (Photos by Jason Keller)