Men's basketball captures victory in OT

It has been an unkind season for an almost winless Oberlin men's basketball team. From Wooster to Kenyon, the perennially stingy NCAC hasn't been very forthcoming in giving gifts starting with the all important "W". As of Wednesday night, no one had given Oberlin anything. But perhaps when an overachieving Case Western Reserve University team swaggered into Philips Gym on Wednesday night, they may have felt entitled to a gift by virtue of their impressive 16-6 overall record and a second place conference standing.

The gift never arrived. Instead, the fighting Yeomen handed Case their jerseys, prevailing with a 93-85 victory in overtime. They gave senior captain and four-year basketball standout John Norris a going-away gift he will never forget. They gave a raucous crowd something to cheer about. Most importantly, they gave themselves a shining moment in an otherwise bleak season.

Better late than never.

Oberlin broke from the gates, sprinted down the court, crashed the boards and quickly jumped out to a 12-4 lead three minutes into the game. Although sophomore guard Maurice Elrod hit a jumpshot off a downscreen to open the game, it was not the half-court game which propelled the Yeomen to the lead. By the time sophomore swingman James Knight picked the pocket of an unsuspecting Spartan at midcourt and converted with a two handed dunk at the other end, the Yeomen had scored 10 out of their first 12 points out of transition or out of a one-pass transition offense. The game promised to be a high-scoring, free-flowing affair.

The referees, in an uncharacteristic in-conference move, became a three man foul-calling machine. Although it may be debatable as to whether the officials were unfair in their distribution of fouls, one thing remains clear: they called a lot of them. By halftime Oberlin had committed 15 personal fouls to Case's nine. To put this in perspective, when Case recently played Wittenberg University, the officials had called three fouls on Case and two on Wittenberg by halftime.

As the fouls accrued, both Case and Oberlin had to turn to their half-court game. Although hampered by poor shooting and missed opportunities, the Spartans adjusted to the slower pace more quickly than the Yeomen did. Spartan ball rotation exploited flaws in the Yeomen 3-2 zone, just as baseline screens and backpicks took advantage of weaknesses in the Oberlin man-to-man defense. With 8:15 left in the half Case had caught up, tying the game at 20 points apiece.

Oberlin, however, had an answer: floor spacing, dribble penetration and steady rebounding. Elrod's prolific scoring didn't hurt, either. The braided Chicago native broke out of a mini shooting slump for a well-timed career night: scoring 10 points over the next eight minutes, Elrod kept the game in balance and ultimately finished the night having recorded his first Oberlin career double-double with 26 points and 10 rebounds. Of his first-half heroics, however, none mattered more than an elbow jump shot to end the half. After a Pat Duncan layup (who finished the game as Case's leading scorer with 20 points) the Yeomen found themselves trailing 39-38 with 16 seconds remaining in the half. After a chaotic broken play ending with a 25 foot jumpshot with five seconds left from the right wing by Knight, Elrod found himself with the rebound on the left elbow. One stroke and one second later the Yeomen were running into the lockeroom with a one-point lead.

While the first half might have been the making of the starters, the second half was saved by the substitutes. With the officials calling light contact and accidental contact fouls, the Yeomen soon found themselves saddled with fouls and looking to their bench for strength. By the 12:50 mark first-year center Ric Pierce had four fouls, sophomore swingman Zeljko Petrovic had three, Norris had three (with 10:43 left he was assessed his fourth), and senior point guard/havoc maker/floor general Jabali Sawicki had committed his fourth.

Enter junior guard Jesse Morse and first-year point guard Alonzo Crowder. Last week, the starters had been forced to play an inordinate amount of minutes per game, and if they were to have a chance to remain fresh down the stretch, the bench was going to have to contribute. This week they did. Over the next four and a half minutes, the bench backcourt combo ran the show with an intensity and composure rarely befitting those who see limited court action. When asked for his thoughts as he entered the pressure situation, Crowder replied: "I was playing for my teammates, especially for John. It was his last game, and I wanted to send him out a winner. In the end, we came through and held it down for the backcourt." Culminating with a riveting right wing drive by Crowder, on this night Coach "Satch" Sullinger was able to give Sawicki and Knight a breather, leaving the game in capable hands.

Commending his bench play for the entire night, Satch praised his reserves. "The people on the bench came in and played hard," he said. "They contributed a lot of positive energy ... which just draws everyone else along like a jetstream."

Over the last eight minutes of regulation, the game stayed tight, with neither team being able to extend their lead farther than six points. It was during this time that Oberlin realized Case was having a hard time finding people to match-up with them defensively. More to the point, the Spartans couldn't guard 6'7" Petrovic. Over these remaining minutes, he lured their big man away from the basket, and with typical European flavor, scored 12 out of Oberlin's next 19 points by nailing set shots, pull-up jumpers, and foul shots. Petrovic ended the night as the second leading scorer with 22 points.

The exclamation point wasn't placed on Petrovic's night, however, until the final moments of regulation. Seconds earlier, Case had run a clear-out play for play-maker Duncan from the left wing. Duncan penetrated and made an easy layup to put Case up by two points with 17 seconds remaining. With 11 seconds left and time quickly running out, Petrovic caught the ball, started to drive baseline, spun and hit a baby-hook to tie the game with seven seconds remaining. Time ran down before Case could get off a decent shot, and the game went into overtime.

With five minutes remaining, Norris and first-year forward Brian "Buc" Buchanan fouled out, and with Pierce, Petrovic, and Sawicki each saddled with four fouls, the overtime appeared ominous to most of the Yeomen faithful. But not, fortunately, to the players. After a Knight transition layup answered a Case jump shot, 3:54 remained and the pressure mounted. Case turned the ball over twice, and Oberlin was not able to convert until 2:39. With Case overplaying penetration, Sawicki caught the ball on the right wing at the arc. While the crowd held its breath, Sawicki calmly squared up and "spied it and flied it." When asked about the unexpected nature of the shot, Sawicki explained that spontaneity is part of the game. "Usually I look for the pass first, though I try to take the open shot when I get it," he said. "Sometimes you catch the ball, the defender is off of you, you look at the rim and before you have a chance to contemplate your role or anything, you shoot the ball." There was no rebound, and Oberlin held a three-point lead that ultimately proved insurmountable for the Spartans. After two Elrod layups, and three foul shots by Elrod and Petrovic, the Yeomen walked off the court with a 93-85 victory.

The battle Wednesday night didn't only record a first "W." It was also, sadly, the last time Oberlin fans had the pleasure of watching senior John Norris don a varsity jersey and wreak havoc on opposing teams. Even after seeing limited playing time in his last game due to foul trouble (he fouled out with 5:09 remaining in regulation), Norris still managed to leave the game with 13 points and eight rebounds. When he graduates, he will leave the team as a model of class, hustle and enthusiasm. As a fellow senior, Sawicki expressed nothing but admiration and respect for his longtime teammate. "John has been a tremendous player all four years and has been the heart and soul of every team he has played for," he said. "We can dedicate this game to John."

Being his last home game, his parents traveled from his home town in Tennessee to watch him play. Reflecting on John's career at Oberlin, his father said,"We've watched 'Bumper' play all through high school, and we were just as excited tonight as we were when we saw him play on senior night in high school. The most exciting thing is that he hung in there. I'm retired Army and I stayed for 25 years, and one of the things we emphasized is not giving up. [John's] done that both academically and on the court and we're proud of him. "

Perhaps the most accurate wrap-up of the situation Wednesday night came in the terse words of Buchanan: "We couldn't send [Norris] out like that. We had to step up, and that's about it. "

Now that the men have stepped up, perhaps they can make a step forward to next season.

Call me the bus driver: Senior Jabali Sawicki takes a few opponents to school. (photo by Leslie Torre)

Not in my house: Oberlin wreaked defensive havoc on Case all night. (photo by Leslie Torre)