Sports
Buckeyes Outlast Liberty Union in Overtime Thriller
By: Jerry Kirven
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The Nelsonville -York Buckeyes went to war on Tuesday night against the Liberty Union Lions winning 76 -73 in a double overtime thriller.
The Buckeyes (8-4, 1-4) showed tonight it’s not always about how you start, but how you finish. Down two at the end of the 1st quarter, NY coach Jay Kline decided to crank up the pressure on the Lions (5-7) red hot offense.
The Lions were able to respond to the Buckeyes intense half court press with excellent ball movement and carried the momentum and a four point 33-29 lead into the half.
Coming out of the locker room for the 2nd half the Buckeyes looked to gain the lead but were exposed by Liberty Union star point guard Caleb Fox who finished with 25 points and five rebounds.
Down 11 at the end of the 3rd, the Buckeyes undefeated record against non-conference opponents looked to be in jeopardy. But the Buckeyes decided that they were not going down without a fight.
At the start of the fourth quarter the Buckeyes went at the Lions with everything they had defensively and the Lions, who had showcased great ball movement all game became one dimensional and committed sloppy mistakes, which allowed Nelsonville-York to slowly claw its way back into the game.
Down eight with 5:30 to go, Buckeye senior Hunter Edwards, after having a quiet night, nailed clutch buckets to put his team back into the game. Finally setting up sophomore teammate Ethan Bohyer for the game tying three which he nailed with ease. The comeback was officially on.
At the start of the first overtime, the Buckeyes looked like they were going to finally tame the Lions, but a clutch three pointer by Fox had the game tied with 11.9 seconds to go. The Buckeyes however were tired of their unexpectedly game foe and went for the kill. Ethan Bohyer drew a controversial foul and was back in the hero chair. But with two misses at the line a Buckeye victory was another overtime away.
The game was finally iced by Buckeye senior, Aron Davis, who made clutch free throws that capped off a brilliant 31-point performance.
The Buckeyes improved to 8-4 and plan to bring the heart and fight that was showcased tonight to their matchup against River Valley on Friday.