Double overtime thriller ends with Tornado loss
Frank Speziale Photo
NORWICH – Earlier this season, the game between long-time rivals of Norwich and Oneonta was lopsided in favor of the Yellowjackets. The two teams were separated by 20-plus points. Friday night was a totally different story.
Oneonta’s Teddy McGraw scored the first basket of the game and was followed by a deep three-pointer from teammate Graham Wooden, giving the Yellowjackets a 5-1 lead early. For a few minutes, the game went basket for basket at each end of the floor. That was until Norwich’s Marcus Cashman unleashed the long-range attack.
Cashman hit his first in the Oneonta defender’s face, tying the game at 8-8. The Yellowjackets answered with a bucket and a three ball of their own, taking a 13-8 lead.
Again, Cashman answered with a three as he cut the lead down to two points. The next offensive possession for the Purple Tornado resulted with another Cashman three as he caught fire. His third three gave Norwich their first lead of the contest. Oneonta again took the lead back, closing the first eight minutes out 17-16.
Cashman had 11 straight points in the first quarter for the Purple, keeping the game within reach.
The atmosphere for the game was one of the old days with the student section standing and cheering loudly while the fans were also engaging. But McGraw quickly put a stop to that at the beginning of the second as he took the Norwich turnover and threw the fast break dunk down, rattling the rim.
And again Cashman answered, scoring on back-to-back possessions to again tie the game up. A strong take to the rim by Carson Maynard followed by an all team hustle play that resulted in a Michael Carson score, gave Norwich the 24-22 lead with four minutes left in the half.
Carson finished at the basket again then drew the offensive charge on Wooden, sending Wooden to the bench with foul trouble.
Marcus Benjamin capped off his nine point first half with two free-throws and a strong finish – from a crazy pass by Maynard that left the fans wondering how it got through the defense – that helped set up Norwich’s largest lead of the game. One additional basket from Maynard after a steal sent the Purple into the locker room with a 33-25 score.
Beang started the scoring following the break with a three, cutting the lead down to five. Maynard scored at the other end and both teams continued the basket for basket for most of the third and fourth quarter.
Oneonta did get their stops they needed throughout the quarters, cutting the lead to down to nothing and eventually taking the lead midway in the final eight minutes.
At 1:27, McGraw drove baseline to get the score and the 57-54 lead.
Mujuni Mutabiilwa came off the bench and hit his one and only basket behind the three-point arc to tie the game at 57-57 with 55 seconds left.
Both teams had chances at the end to take the win in regulation but missed free-throws for Norwich and a missed shot for the Yellowjackets sent the game into overtime.
Carson had the first seven points in the four minutes of extra basketball. Maynard capped of the time with two made foul shots, giving Norwich the two point lead with 15.9 left.
At the other end of the floor Beang hit two of his out at the line, again tying the game at 66-66.
With 8.1 second remaining, the Tornado had an offensive try. But a drive to the basket ended with a ball being juggled by Maynard in the air, ending the game into another overtime session.
In the second set of four minutes, Oneonta took the lead first and extended it to as many as eight points. But Norwich wasn’t going down easy.
With 41.9 seconds left, the Tornado cut the gap down what seemed like two-points at a time. On the side of the Yellowjackets, players started to miss their free-throws allowing Norwich to chip away at the lead.
With 8 seconds left, Carson grabbed the missed Oneonta free-throw and brought the ball over half court. He made one pass but received the ball back and fired up a deep three for the Tornado win. But the shot hit the back of the rim and went high in the air, giving no chance for a put back opportunity and ending the game at 80-78.
“I thought the game was our best effort so far,” said Norwich’s assistant coach Tom Collier. “We are improving but still need to cut down on our mistakes offensively that lead to baskets for our opponent.”
Carson finished with team high 23 points for the Tornado with Cashman adding 21. Benjamin ended the night with 14 and Maynard totaled 13, five coming from the foul line in the two extra sessions of basketball.
Norwich will host Johnson City Tuesday night, a game that was originally scheduled for a Saturday afternoon in January but postponed due to weather.
“Once again on Tuesday we face another tough opponent. We hope to continue to improve on Friday’s performance and we need another maximum effort from our team,” said Collier.
Before the game, Norwich honored their four seniors – Michael Trevisani, Carson, Grant Wessles and Benjamin. All four started the game.
Oneonta 80, Norwich 78 (2OT)
Oneonta: Tanner Beang 7 5-9-24; Teddy McGraw 7 7-12-22; Graham Wooden 6 3-6-17; Evan Sitts 0; Liam Jennings 0; John Mikolaicyk 5 1-2-13; Sajel Burnette 0; Khi Atchinson 0; Ryan Packard 1 2-2-4. Totals: 26 19-31-80.
Norwich: Drew Walsh 0; Thomas Parrella 0; Michael Trevisani 0; Michael Carson 7 9-15-23; Marcus Cashman 7 2-2-21; Carson Maynard 4 5-6-13; Mujuni Mutabiilwa 1 0-2-3; JT Vinal 1 0-0-2; Grant Wessels 0; Marcus Benjamin 4 6-11-14; Jonathan Clarke 0; Skylar Wenzel 1 0-0-2. Totals: 25 22-36-78
O 17 8 16 16 9 14 – 80
N 16 17 12 12 9 12 – 78
Fouled out: Beang, Stitts and Mikolaicyk (O). Three-point goals: (O) Beang 5, Wooden 2, Mikolaicyk 2, McGraw 1; (N) Cashman 5, Mutabiilwa. Officials: Blair and Allen.
NORWICH – Earlier this season, the game between long-time rivals of Norwich and Oneonta was lopsided in favor of the Yellowjackets. The two teams were separated by 20-plus points. Friday night was a totally different story.
Oneonta’s Teddy McGraw scored the first basket of the game and was followed by a deep three-pointer from teammate Graham Wooden, giving the Yellowjackets a 5-1 lead early. For a few minutes, the game went basket for basket at each end of the floor. That was until Norwich’s Marcus Cashman unleashed the long-range attack.
Cashman hit his first in the Oneonta defender’s face, tying the game at 8-8. The Yellowjackets answered with a bucket and a three ball of their own, taking a 13-8 lead.
Again, Cashman answered with a three as he cut the lead down to two points. The next offensive possession for the Purple Tornado resulted with another Cashman three as he caught fire. His third three gave Norwich their first lead of the contest. Oneonta again took the lead back, closing the first eight minutes out 17-16.
Cashman had 11 straight points in the first quarter for the Purple, keeping the game within reach.
The atmosphere for the game was one of the old days with the student section standing and cheering loudly while the fans were also engaging. But McGraw quickly put a stop to that at the beginning of the second as he took the Norwich turnover and threw the fast break dunk down, rattling the rim.
And again Cashman answered, scoring on back-to-back possessions to again tie the game up. A strong take to the rim by Carson Maynard followed by an all team hustle play that resulted in a Michael Carson score, gave Norwich the 24-22 lead with four minutes left in the half.
Carson finished at the basket again then drew the offensive charge on Wooden, sending Wooden to the bench with foul trouble.
Marcus Benjamin capped off his nine point first half with two free-throws and a strong finish – from a crazy pass by Maynard that left the fans wondering how it got through the defense – that helped set up Norwich’s largest lead of the game. One additional basket from Maynard after a steal sent the Purple into the locker room with a 33-25 score.
Beang started the scoring following the break with a three, cutting the lead down to five. Maynard scored at the other end and both teams continued the basket for basket for most of the third and fourth quarter.
Oneonta did get their stops they needed throughout the quarters, cutting the lead to down to nothing and eventually taking the lead midway in the final eight minutes.
At 1:27, McGraw drove baseline to get the score and the 57-54 lead.
Mujuni Mutabiilwa came off the bench and hit his one and only basket behind the three-point arc to tie the game at 57-57 with 55 seconds left.
Both teams had chances at the end to take the win in regulation but missed free-throws for Norwich and a missed shot for the Yellowjackets sent the game into overtime.
Carson had the first seven points in the four minutes of extra basketball. Maynard capped of the time with two made foul shots, giving Norwich the two point lead with 15.9 left.
At the other end of the floor Beang hit two of his out at the line, again tying the game at 66-66.
With 8.1 second remaining, the Tornado had an offensive try. But a drive to the basket ended with a ball being juggled by Maynard in the air, ending the game into another overtime session.
In the second set of four minutes, Oneonta took the lead first and extended it to as many as eight points. But Norwich wasn’t going down easy.
With 41.9 seconds left, the Tornado cut the gap down what seemed like two-points at a time. On the side of the Yellowjackets, players started to miss their free-throws allowing Norwich to chip away at the lead.
With 8 seconds left, Carson grabbed the missed Oneonta free-throw and brought the ball over half court. He made one pass but received the ball back and fired up a deep three for the Tornado win. But the shot hit the back of the rim and went high in the air, giving no chance for a put back opportunity and ending the game at 80-78.
“I thought the game was our best effort so far,” said Norwich’s assistant coach Tom Collier. “We are improving but still need to cut down on our mistakes offensively that lead to baskets for our opponent.”
Carson finished with team high 23 points for the Tornado with Cashman adding 21. Benjamin ended the night with 14 and Maynard totaled 13, five coming from the foul line in the two extra sessions of basketball.
Norwich will host Johnson City Tuesday night, a game that was originally scheduled for a Saturday afternoon in January but postponed due to weather.
“Once again on Tuesday we face another tough opponent. We hope to continue to improve on Friday’s performance and we need another maximum effort from our team,” said Collier.
Before the game, Norwich honored their four seniors – Michael Trevisani, Carson, Grant Wessles and Benjamin. All four started the game.
Oneonta 80, Norwich 78 (2OT)
Oneonta: Tanner Beang 7 5-9-24; Teddy McGraw 7 7-12-22; Graham Wooden 6 3-6-17; Evan Sitts 0; Liam Jennings 0; John Mikolaicyk 5 1-2-13; Sajel Burnette 0; Khi Atchinson 0; Ryan Packard 1 2-2-4. Totals: 26 19-31-80.
Norwich: Drew Walsh 0; Thomas Parrella 0; Michael Trevisani 0; Michael Carson 7 9-15-23; Marcus Cashman 7 2-2-21; Carson Maynard 4 5-6-13; Mujuni Mutabiilwa 1 0-2-3; JT Vinal 1 0-0-2; Grant Wessels 0; Marcus Benjamin 4 6-11-14; Jonathan Clarke 0; Skylar Wenzel 1 0-0-2. Totals: 25 22-36-78
O 17 8 16 16 9 14 – 80
N 16 17 12 12 9 12 – 78
Fouled out: Beang, Stitts and Mikolaicyk (O). Three-point goals: (O) Beang 5, Wooden 2, Mikolaicyk 2, McGraw 1; (N) Cashman 5, Mutabiilwa. Officials: Blair and Allen.
dived wound factual legitimately delightful goodness fit rat some lopsidedly far when.
Slung alongside jeepers hypnotic legitimately some iguana this agreeably triumphant pointedly far
jeepers unscrupulous anteater attentive noiseless put less greyhound prior stiff ferret unbearably cracked oh.
So sparing more goose caribou wailed went conveniently burned the the the and that save that adroit gosh and sparing armadillo grew some overtook that magnificently that
Circuitous gull and messily squirrel on that banally assenting nobly some much rakishly goodness that the darn abject hello left because unaccountably spluttered unlike a aurally since contritely thanks