Lynn Men’s Basketball Falls on Last Second Shot

Miami Gardens, Fla. – Chris Hall scored five points over the final 25 seconds of play but a basket by David Nesbitt with 1.8 on the clock gave St. Thomas a 71-70 victory over Lynn University’s men’s basketball team.   Hall finished with a game-high 20 points but the Fighting Knights have started the season 0-2 for the first time since the 2006-07 season.

Lynn’s offense had no problem finding the net as it shot 53.5% from the field, including 60.9% in the second half, but its percentage from the charity stripe, a paltry 40.6%, kept St. Thomas in the game to the very end.  St. Thomas (1-1) shot 37.5% from the floor and 68.8% at the line.

A basket by Hall with 26.5 left cut the deficit to one, 69-68, and good fortune shined on LU as on the ensuing inbounds Eugene Davis stepped on the baseline to give the Knights a chance to take the lead.  The senior guard grabbed an offensive board then went up strong with 11.2 on the clock, getting the basket and drawing the foul.  But Hall missed his team’s 19th shot from the line on the night to keep the game at 70-69.

Jeffrey Remmington drove into LU territory and into the lane where he found David Nesbitt underneath the basket.  The Bobcats forward pump-faked then knocked down his shot off the backboard for the game-winner.

The Bobcats came out strong, holding the Blue & White without a point for the first four minutes of play in carrying a 5-0 lead.  But the Knights were able to gain its first advantage of the game with 8:21 remaining.

Craig Brown thought he found Jovan Robinson cutting into the lane only to see the ball sail through his hands and into the waiting arms of Kennedy behind the arc.  The senior guard hit nothing but net and Lynn never looked back taking a 37-32 advantage into the locker room.

A trey by Robert Ford and lay-up by Eugene Davis gave STU some hope though as they squared the game at 37 to start the second half.  Remmington then gave his team the lead while bringing the crowd to their feed with a one-handed alley-oop dunk by Jeffrey Remmington. Ian Gregory followed with an attempt just inside the three-point line to make it 47-44

A baseline jumper at 11:27 from Hall put LU back on top 50-48.  Brown then added some fire to the squad scoring two points on a powerful drive to the basket, dishing out an assist on a fast-break to Hall and then taking a charge on three consecutive possessions.

St. Thomas’ Anthony Peay, who didn’t play any of the first half, jumpstarted his teammates with eight minutes left in the game.  He entered and immediately nailed a pair of shots, one a mid-range jumper and the other a three-pointer from one foot beyond the arc to make it 61-57.
The two teams scrapped until the final moments that led to the game-winning basket.

Lynn returns to action on Wednesday, November 24, at 7 p.m. when it hosts its first home game of the season against Puerto Rico-Mayaguez.  Fans can follow all of the action live by logging on to www.LynnFightingKnights.com and selecting “Game Central.”