The Baylor boys’ basketball team was winless coming into the Times Free Press Best of Preps tournament, while Grace Academy hadn’t lost a game.
Both streaks ended Thursday at Arts & Sciences, when the Red Raiders’ 59-57 overtime victory put them in the tournament semifinals today at 5:30 p.m. against Howard.
“Sometimes as coaches, we worry too much about wins and losses,” Baylor coach Austin Clark said. “We play a tough schedule, because we’re just trying to get better for February. But this win was a big one for us, not just because it’s our first but because it was against a quality opponent.”
The Red Raiders (1-3) used a strong start to build a 12-point lead four minutes into the second quarter after back-to-back baskets from Zane Gibson. A three-point play from Terrell Church and a basket from Patrick Shaughnessy got Grace (7-1) within 29-22 at the half, and the Golden Eagles opened the third period on a 12-2 run.
Brandon Herman scored nine of those points as Grace went up by three, but 3s from Gibson and Jordan Clark helped Baylor take a three-point lead into the fourth period. The Red Raiders led by that margin with under a minute to play, but Herman sent the game to overtime by sinking a 3 from the top of the key with 13.6 seconds on the clock.
“I thought we got a little down after that,” Clark said. “Their kid made a great shot, but I’m very proud of our guys’ effort. They were patient and made their free throws (in overtime).”
Baylor went 8-of-10 from the line in the extra period, including two shots from Will Thoni with 5.3 seconds to play. Herman drove the length of the court in that span but lost the ball after being bumped in the lane before he could attempt another tying shot.
“They controlled the tempo, and we were never able to speed the game up,” Golden Eagles coach Jon Mattheiss said. “They kept it slow, which was what they wanted to do, and they shot the ball really well tonight. I was disappointed with our lack of intelligence. They definitely played smarter than we did.”
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