The Voice - Student Newspaper

Gauchos roughed up, lose on buzzer-beater

It was a case of hitting and getting hit back harder.

The Gauchos' bench return to relevancy and 3-point marksmanship were negated by Eastern Arizona's frontcourt and late-game heroics last Wednesday, leaving Glendale on the short end of a 132-131 overtime loss.

Freshman forward James Ellisor lead the Gauchos with 27 points.

Eastern's Dazmond Starke demolished Glendale's interior defense for 58 points (27-for-33 shooting) and 15 rebounds.

When asked after the game how the Gauchos gave up a 16-point second, coach Dave Hodges' answer was succinct:

"We couldn't stop #32."

It was a rare case of the individual effort overcoming that of the team; nine Gauchos scored in double-figures. The team shot 18-for-39 from 3-point range.

The outside shooting was encouraging; Glendale had been fighting through a shooting slump, hitting just 35% of their field goals overall in the previous four games.

"We got our rythmn back," said sophomore forward Nick Sheffield. "We looked like our old selves again, which we've been missing for the last three weeks, honestly."

Up by one with a minute remaining in overtime, Glendale regained possession thanks to a charge taken by Fite.

The following sequence made the ending more controversial than conclusive.

With the shot clock running out, a Glendale 3-point miss, appearing to graze the rim, was rebounded by Ellisor. The officials signaled the ball did not hit the rim, causing a shot clock violation.

Hodges was incensed, both over the shot-clock violation as well as for not being heard calling for a timeout.

After a brief conference, the call stood, and Eastern was given possession with 7.7 seconds remaining.

Eastern guard Mario Gill raced down-court and hit the game-winner over 6-7 Lance Fite and 6-10 Dyston Madsen with 0.4 seconds remaining

The Gauchos sorely missed reserve forward Will Cole, who is out with an ankle injury. The freshman led Glendale in rebounding early in the season at a 6.7 per-game clip despite coming off the bench.

Without his girth inside, Eastern forced (vehemently, at times) their way in the paint. Fite and Madsen, both more finesse frontcourt players than enforcers, were unable to stop the onslaught.

Sheffield's minutes have been limited due to patellar tendinitis and a strained hamstring. Hodges is saving him late-game situations.

"Whatever coach is best for us to win, I'm all for it," said Sheffield. "Any true athlete knows it's more important to finish games than to start games."

The Gauchos were out-rebounded 40 to 30.

The interior onslaught didn't stop the Gauchos from taking a 64-50 lead at halftime. They extended the advantage to 16 before Eastern made their comeback.

The Gila Monsters took their first lead since the opening minutes at the 4:00 mark, and lead by five with only 30 seconds left in regulation.

"When it gets into making decisions late down the stretch, sometimes we just don't make the smartest decisions," said sophomore captain Lance Fite.

Sophomore point guard Lukas Hambsch nailed two three pointers, the second with one second remaining to tie the game and send it into overtime.