CONWAY, Ark. (Feb. 2, 2014) – Led by freshman Jorden Williams, the Sewanee men's basketball team earned a hard fought 77-71 win at Southern Athletic Association (SAA) rival Hendrix, Sunday, inside Grove Gymnasium.
Williams scored a career-high 25 points and made an incredible 80 percent of his attempts. Overall, Williams finished 8-of-10 from the field, which included a 5-for-6 performance from outside the three-point arc.
Sewanee led by seven at halftime, 38-31, in large part because of Williams. The Chattanooga, Tenn., native scored 20 points on 7-of-7 shooting in the opening 20 minutes.
In the second half, the Tigers came out strong. Back-to-back layups by Keshonn Carter and a three by Seth Brown pushed Sewanee's advantage to 10, 45-35, with 17:16 to play.
Over the next 12 minutes, Sewanee maintained its strong lead. Unfortunately, a layup by Colten Primm changed that. Primm's score with less than three minutes left sparked a 12-2 Hendrix run.
Eventually, Hendrix took a 66-65 lead with 43 seconds to play.
However, after a Sewanee timeout, the Tigers answered back. After a missed jumper by Leo Born, Born grabbed his own offensive rebound with 22 seconds remaining. On his attempt back up, Hendrix sent Born to the free throw line with 21 seconds left.
After missing his first attempt, Born made his second shot, which tied the score at 66-66.
Hendrix would have one final chance to win the game in regulation, however Jordan Barrett missed a layup right before the buzzer.
In the extra period, Sewanee struck first. After a jumper by Marcellus Caldwell, Hendrix answered back when Alec Conrad scored.
On the ensuing Tiger possession, Williams came through again with an old fashion three-point play. Unfortunately, the Warriors answered back with a three-point play of their own which tied the score at 71-71.
With 1:38 left in overtime, Caldwell pushed the Tigers back in front with a jump shot off an assist from Williams.
After stepping up defensively, Sewanee then got the ball back with 19 seconds left. From there, sophomore Matt Tome made a pair of free throws.
Williams would eventually add two more points from the charity stripe with five seconds left.
Along with Williams, Carter added 14 points, two rebounds, and career-high four blocks. Born was the third Tiger in double figures with 11 points, eight rebounds, four assists, two steals, and a block.
Primm led Hendrix with a team-high 22 points. Forward Luke Vance also played well for the Warriors with 14 points.
The Tigers will now briefly step outside SAA play with a 7:00 p.m. (EST) game at Tocca Falls, Tuesday.
For more information on Sewanee Athletics, please visit www.SewaneeTigers.com. You can also check the Tigers out on Twitter and Facebook.