ROCK ISLAND, Ill. - Brian DeSimone (Buffalo Grove HS, Wheeling, Ill.) drilled a three-pointer from the right wing with 4.1 seconds left to send the game into overtime and Augustana went on to claim an 88-80 win over Hope in the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament Saturday at Carver Center. With the win, the 26-3 Vikings advance to sectional play against Mary Hardin-Baylor at a site to be determined.
With Hope leading by two points, Flying Dutchman star Will Bowser rebounded a Kyle Nelson (Deerfield HS, Deerfield, Ill.) miss and was fouled by Troy Rorer (Bettendorf HS, Bettendorf, Iowa) with 14.8 seconds left in regulation. Bowser hit the first of two free throws to make the score 74-71, but his second attempt rimmed out and Bryant Voiles (Byron HS, Byron, Ill.) grabbed the rebound. DeSimone pushed the ball upcourt, fed Chris Anderson(West Carroll HS, Mt. Carroll, Ill.) on the left wing and ran behind a screen at the top of the key. Anderson kicked it back and DeSimone drained the 22-footer to tie it at 74.
Before the Vikings could get to overtime however, they had to survive David Krombeen's 35-foot desperation shot at the buzzer. With everyone in Carver Center holding their collective breath, Krombeen's heave bounced off the back iron to send the game to an extra session.
It was all Vikings in overtime, as Augustana scored the first eight points-all from the free throw line and eventually extended the lead to 87-76 on a pair of DeSimone freebies with 40 seconds left. With 30 seconds left and the score 88-78, both coaches pulled their regulars to large ovations.
It didn't look like the game would be headed for overtime early, as the Vikings shot a blistering .667 from the field in the first half to take a 40-30 lead at the break. Voiles was on fire for the hosts, knocking down three-of-four three-pointers on his way to 14 first-half points.
The lead reached its largest of the game less than a minute into the second half when Nelson converted a conventional three-point play to give the Vikings a 44-32 advantage. Over the next seven and a half minutes, however, the visitors went on an 18-4 run to take a 50-48 lead with 11:42 remaining. Not surprisingly, Bowser was right in the middle of things with 10 of those 18 Flying Dutchmen points.
From there the game settled into a seesaw affair with five ties and six lead changes. The fourth of those ties came at 68 on a DeSimone jumper with 3:06 left, but Dutchmen Ty Tanis answered with a bucket 20 seconds later and Hope maintained that lead until DeSimone's heroics with 4.1 seconds left.
Five Vikings reached double figures with co-captains Voiles and Nelson leading the way with 19 each. Nelson also has a game-high 12 rebounds while Voiles added seven. DeSimone added 14 points, all of which came after halftime, and dished out a game-high eight assists while committing just one turnover in 35 minutes. Rorer and Kameron Norton (Downers Grove North HS, Downers Grove, Ill.) each added 10 points. Bowser fired in a game-high 29 for Hope, including five of nine from behind the arc.
At 26-3, this year's team has recorded the second-highest single-season victory total in school history. The 1972-73 team won a school-record 29 against just two defeats.