Tough Loss in Overtime

By Francisco Claudio

As a fan of basketball, it's always exciting when a game goes into overtime after seeing both sides battle it out.

But the highs also bring very lows, especially when your team doesn't prevail after the extra minutes.

On Thursday night Westcliff men's basketball team suffered a tough loss against Pacific Union in overtime, 99-92.

It was a game that could have been scripted from the beginning with the potential to go down the wire and into extra minutes.

The Warriors went up at the 13-minute mark after a timely 3-pointer from their reserve, Ray Witt Jr.

A couple of minutes later Marius Ntwari gave them a six-point lead after grabbing a defensive rebound.

But there was no time to relax because a single-digit lead in basketball can disappear in an instant.

The Pioneers stayed strong down the stretch and earned themselves a six-point lead of their own with one minute to go in the first half. 

Once the buzzer went off to signal the end of the half, Pacific Union went into the locker room with a small lead, 37-33.

The Pioneers came out better prepared to start the second half and after a couple of baskets increased their lead to 48-39.

Westcliff's head coach Jerred Cook had seen enough and called a timeout to talk it over with his team and regroup.

Whatever was discussed during the timeout definitely helped the team because they were able to change the flow of the game after a quick layup from Cedric Sobers.

The Warriors started to put more pressure on the Pioneers and after fighting hard were able to take the lead at the 10:51 mark, 59-58.

The next couple of minutes were so important because they were able to play great defense that forced missed shots and turnovers by Pacific Union.

Their solid play gave them an eight-point lead with 7:37 to play in the second half.

But in basketball, no lead is ever secured because everyone that is on the floor is able to score and be a formidable impact on the game.

The Warriors slowly saw their lead slip away in the late stages of the second half and the score was all even with 33 seconds left to play.

Both teams called timeout during the last few seconds of the half to run set plays in an attempt to get ahead on the scoreboard.

After 40 minutes of play, both teams were back where they started when the game tipped off, tied, 82-82.

This would be the first time either team reached overtime this season.

Westcliff was first to score in the added minutes but wasn't able to maintain the lead as the Pioneers overtook them and slowly pulled away.

The Warriors weren't able to make it happen down the stretch and were dealt a tough loss after exerting so much energy into the game.

But they'll need to brush off this loss pretty quickly because they play again this weekend, and are in much need of a win after this four-game losing streak.

They will visit Cal Maritime on Saturday, December 3rd, tip off at 7:30 PM.