Mt. Carmel, Ill. – Wabash Valley rallied dramatically in the final two minutes of regulation to force an overtime against Southwestern Illinois on Monday night.
Given a second chance, the Warriors made the most of it, recording an 89-86 Great Rivers Athletic Conference win that snapped a three-game losing streak.
"That was a gritty win," said Warrior coach Mike Carpenter. "We've been struggling for a few games. The thing we're most proud of is the effort and toughness they showed down the stretch to get some big stops."
Simply getting to the overtime was a victory of sorts.
Trailing 74-69 with under two minutes left, WVC (6-4, 2-3 in GRAC) staged an 8-0 turnaround in quick fashion to go up 77-74.
Sophomore Jejuan Weatherspoon, who led the Warriors with a season-high 25 points, hit a 3-point field goal with 1:43 left to cut the deficit to 74-72. Moments later, Weatherspoon did it again from the arc line on a kickout from 5-foot-11 guard Trevon Hamilton after his offensive rebound.
Southwestern (6-4, 2-3), now behind 75-74, tried to answer in a hurry, and were on the way to a runout when Deshaun Nettles made the defensive play of the night, flying in from behind to pin the potential game-winning layup against the glass.
"That was a winning play," said Carpenter of Nettles' act of aerial supremacy. "Those don't always show up as big stats, but they'll help you win a big game."
That in turn led to a layup from Jamison Epps which gave the Warriors a 77-74 lead.
Never mind the fact that a Southwestern 3-ball tied the game at the end of regulation, 77-77. The Warriors were still the ones with all the momentum heading into the extra five-minute frame.
The Blue Storm had a chance to extend the game into a second overtime with a 3-pointer but could not capitalize on two opportunities in the final 20 seconds.
Carpenter, who brought Weatherspoon and Hamilton with him to the post-game press conference, said: "Credit these guys for bouncing back and calming down in the right situation and executing at the end of the game."
TreVon Smith added 18 points for WVC. Epps finished with 11 points, while 6-11 Javier Turner chipped in 10.
Southwestern was led by 6-8 freshman Luke Davis, who finished game-high with 26 points. Three others finished in double figures: Sam Bledsoe (15 points), Walter Johnson (13) and Lamarius Lillard (11).
Hamilton, one of the sophomore leaders of the team, said this game should be used as a reference point going forward.
"This one game we should always look at," he said. "There were plenty of plays where we made the extra pass, somebody blocked, or somebody rebounded. That is what we did tonight and that's why we got the win."
The win allows the Warriors to enter Wednesday's district showdown with arch-rival Vincennes (8-4) on a positive note. The dual with the 24th-ranked Trailblazers is also key for post-season seeding position.
Weatherspoon said, "we really needed that dub, and it gives us a lot of momentum going into Wednesday."