MidValleySports.Com

Israel Lacy drives to the hoop. (Photo by AC)

(Pasadena) – Any chances of a Rose City Rivalry semi-final match-up between La Salle and Maranatha collapsed in the second half as Buckley came from behind to win 67-54 in overtime.

For the second straight game the Griffins rallied from more than 10 points down on the road.

The unbelievable comeback was made complete with 1.2 seconds remaining in the game when Anurag Choudry drained a three-pointer to send the game into extra time.

In reality the Lancers had the game in its back pocket with 12 seconds remaining but one of 23 turnovers in the game came back to bite them, ten seconds later.

A tale of two halves, La Salle had its way with Buckley which seemed out of sorts on both sides of the ball and in some cases even bickering amongst themselves in the first half.

The Lancers began the game in fine fettle, running out to an 18-10 lead after Ian Schuler hit a jumper at the buzzer of the first quarter. Schuler’s shot was from behind the backboard.

The defense for La Salle was able to stop any dribble penetration from the Griffins point guards and in the second quarter only allowed two field goals to be converted.

Tyler Coppin-Carter became a one man show in the quarter scoring all six points for Buckley.

A 12-4 run to end the half gave the Lancers a 14-point lead.

The offense appeared to have found an inside game in the second quarter with Gary Mkrtichyan and Jeff Biegler scoring inside the paint to help with inside scoring.

La Salle jumped out to a 19-point lead with 3:56 remaining with the impossible occurred.

Momentum shift came quickly and loudly in the form of Griffin fans which covered only a quarter of the stands.

A huge shooting slump from the Lancers from that point on was the beginning of a nightmarish second half.

While La Salle’s offense went on an early vacation, the Buckley offense finally got its wake-up call in the form of Nick de Benfilhs who sliced through the Lancer defense for seven of his 14 points. De Benfilhs scored five of the last seven points in the third quarter for the Griffins to cut the lead to seven.

With 4:12 remaining Ian Schuler finally nailed a field goal that broke a seven minute drought for the La Salle offense to make the score 46-37.

Marcell Johnson stepped up next for Buckley during the comeback with a three pointer and a jumper all in 31 seconds to cut the lead to five with 1:26 remaining.

Coppin-Carter got the Griffins within three with 42.8 seconds remaining on an inside jumper to set the stage for Choudry’s heroics at the end of the game. Coppin-Carter led all players with 23 points.

Buckley continued its momentum well into the overtime period by going on a 9-1 run to put the game on ice.

Gary Mkrtichyan goes up for a shot. (photo by AC)