Photo by Steve Frommell, d3photography.com, for UW-Oshkosh athletics

By Joe Sager
D3sports.com

There weren’t any fiery speeches. No knocked over tables. No elaborate schemes drawn on a whiteboard.

“Play better.”

Those were the only two words of advice Case Western Reserve University men’s basketball coach Todd McGuinness gave to his team during halftime of its second-round game at UW-Oshkosh on Saturday.

They worked as the Spartans overcame a 14-point halftime deficit to stun the third-ranked Titans, 77-74, on their home floor.

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“Oshkosh is a very good team. They play great halfcourt defense. They are easily the best team we’ve seen all year. We just made the plays we needed to down the stretch. It’s pretty neat,” CWRU senior forward Ryan Newton said. “We’ve had plenty of games this year where we were down double digits at half or in the second half. I wouldn’t like to say we feel comfortable down double digits. But, we have a sense that we’re not out of any game depending on the score or where the game is. We’re just always ready to play. We have a really great group of guys and great leadership. We have guys who don’t want to lose and are ready to go at all times.”

Falling behind has become a theme for the Spartans (20-6), who reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time in program history. The team dropped two of its last three games to close the regular season, but earned an at-large tournament berth. It trailed at halftime in its final two regular-season games, but overcame a 45-35 halftime deficit to beat Carnegie Mellon, 92-83, in the finale.

In its tournament opener, the Spartans trailed Dubuque by 11 at halftime and faced a 13-point deficit with 13 minutes left in regulation. They rallied to force overtime and prevailed, 91-87.

“Playing from behind in both tournament games and coming away with both of those was huge,” CWRU graduate transfer Mitch Prendergast said. “We believe so much in each other. The guys on the bench believe so much. It’s been an unbelievable season so far.”

Against UW-Oshkosh, the team made a furious comeback to cut a 16-point deficit early in the second half to 72-67 with 42.9 seconds to play.

“At that point, we just took a deep beath and focused on what we had to do,” Newton said. “We just kind of rolled from there. It worked.”

No problem for the Spartans. They outscored the hosts, 10-4, down the stretch take the wild win.

“I’ve played in a lot of crazy atmospheres, and that has to be one of the top ones. That was an unbelievable team. Having everyone stick together and step up was just huge for us,” Prendergast said. “Looking back at that game, everything just went right for us down the stretch. We hit shots; we hit free throws; we forced turnovers. We had the jump ball in our favor. I don’t want to say it’s lucky, but luck definitely has a part in it, to have all those things go our way. But, we had confidence knowing we’ve been there and done it before. Knowing we can come back is huge.”

Overcoming big deficits isn’t part CWRU’s official gameplan, but it’s become part of the team’s identity.

“We have a veteran team and they just know we’re going to keep battling,” McGuinness said. “We have a handful of guys who don’t want it to be their last game ever. We have guys who have bought in. It’s a fun group to be around.

“The second halves we put together are some of the best basketball you’ll see,” he continued. “If we put a game together this weekend with two halves like that – the game won’t be close.”

That’s the challenge for the Spartans, who continue their storybook season by hosting the sectional semifinals Friday and the national quarterfinal on Saturday. They meet No. 6 Mary Hardin-Baylor (27-2) on Friday.

“We were shocked to be able to host, but it’s pretty special,” Newton said. “We know they’re a good team and have a lot of talent. If we play like we did in the second half in both games last weekend, we’ll be tough. If we can get some momentum going our way, I think we’ll be fine.”

The players hope to use the home environment as an advantage.

“To host, I think it’s great for the school and program. There will be a ton of alumni coming out,” Prendergast said. “Hopefully, that’ll continue for the program. Sometimes, you need a season like this to really get things going. It’s a dream for the school, the team and everyone in the program. And now, being able to host, it’s unbelievable for us.

“We’ve already made so much history. We have the most wins, most conference wins and first tournament wins. We want to keep this train going as long as we can. Hopefully, it’ll end up in Indiana.”

The Spartans want the momentum of last weekend’s wins to carry over to this weekend and propel the team to the national semifinals at Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Indiana.

“It’s like the movie ‘Hoosiers’ – it’s fun. It’s such a good group of kids,” McGuinness said. “They are so much fun to be around. You don’t come around groups like this very often. The nine- or 10-hour bus ride home last weekend was just incredible. It’s the highest of all highs and one of the best weekends of our entire lives. Maybe this weekend will be better? It’s just been so much fun.”