Down by nine late in the second half, the Pittsburg State men’s basketball team could have just chalked up their first loss of the season and moved on.
However, someone forgot to mention that idea to the Gorillas.
Senior forward Spencer Magana drained a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner as the Gorillas knocked off Missouri S&T 63-62 in the final game of the Chatters/Comfort Inn Classic Saturday at John Lance Arena.
Magana drove the length of the court, got a pick from fellow senior Henry Rogers, and connected with the winning shot on a fade-away from the top of the key.
“I had to slow down to take that last shot,” Magana, who led all scorers with 21, said. “I saw the pick and roll and just went with it.”
Throughout the game, the Gorillas (3-0) failed to gain control as the Miners (0-3) shot lights-out in the first half, going 6 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half en route to building up a 34-31 lead.
Missouri S&T never trailed in the first half.
“I thought we really took the battle to Pitt State tonight,” said Miners’ first-year head coach Jim Glash said.
The woes seemed to continue in the second half after a pair of layups from Rodney Grace, the Gorillas went scoreless for seven minutes before Quincy Owens hit a layup off a no-look pass from Zach Quick to keep the Miners’ lead at 10, 49-39 with 11:18 left in the game.
Grace picked up five points over a two-minute span where the Miners’ were scoreless and the Gorillas were able to cut into S&T’s lead, 49-42.
“I thought we did a pretty good job with our defense in the second half,” said PSU head coach Gene Iba. “They [the Miners] were pretty darn good tonight.”
A pair of Magana 3-pointers cut the lead to just one with :29.7 left in the game.
Just as the Miners took their ensuing inbound, Casey Noll committed an offensive foul — his fifth — and gave the Gorillas one last shot with :27.5 left.
A long 3-pointer from Henry Rogers banked off the left side of the iron and A.J. Mandani came down with the rebound and was fouled by Jordan Embers.
Mandani missed both, but the rebound on the second miss was pulled down by Adam Knollmeyer.
Knollmeyer, hit just one of his two free-throws.
On the subsequent possession, Magana drove the length of the court and found himself open at the top of the key.
Magana unloaded on a long-range 3 that bounced around the iron and fell through, giving the Gorillas a 63-62 lead with just :05 left.
As the Miners drove the length of the court, Marquis Jones had his pocked picked by Andy Smith to close out the game.
“It’s real tough to lose that way,” Glash said. “I have several guys in tears after that.”
A layup from Jones capped an 8-0 run for the Miners over a two-minute span.
In the first half, Pitt State was held without a field goal for almost five minutes, but were kept in the game on 5 of 9 free-throw shooting, but the Miners were 8 of 10 over the first 18 minutes of the half.
The Gorillas finally got off their field-goal drought when JaVon McGee tipped in a shot and Owens followed up with a dunk off a steal to cut the Miners’ lead to 34-31.
Pitt State did shoot 48 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Miners 20-15 in the first half. But, the Miners did shoot 60 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line in the first half.
For the game, the Gorillas shot 43 percent from the field while the Miners shot 32 percent. Magana also led all with eight rebounds and six assists on the night.
The Gorillas return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they travel to Wichita to take on Newman University.
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Down by nine late in the second half, the Pittsburg State men’s basketball team could have just chalked up their first loss of the season and moved on.
However, someone forgot to mention that idea to the Gorillas.
Senior forward Spencer Magana drained a 3-pointer with 5 seconds left that proved to be the game-winner as the Gorillas knocked off Missouri S&T 63-62 in the final game of the Chatters/Comfort Inn Classic Saturday at John Lance Arena.
Magana drove the length of the court, got a pick from fellow senior Henry Rogers, and connected with the winning shot on a fade-away from the top of the key.
“I had to slow down to take that last shot,” Magana, who led all scorers with 21, said. “I saw the pick and roll and just went with it.”
Throughout the game, the Gorillas (3-0) failed to gain control as the Miners (0-3) shot lights-out in the first half, going 6 of 10 from beyond the arc in the first half en route to building up a 34-31 lead.
Missouri S&T never trailed in the first half.
“I thought we really took the battle to Pitt State tonight,” said Miners’ first-year head coach Jim Glash said.
The woes seemed to continue in the second half after a pair of layups from Rodney Grace, the Gorillas went scoreless for seven minutes before Quincy Owens hit a layup off a no-look pass from Zach Quick to keep the Miners’ lead at 10, 49-39 with 11:18 left in the game.
Grace picked up five points over a two-minute span where the Miners’ were scoreless and the Gorillas were able to cut into S&T’s lead, 49-42.
“I thought we did a pretty good job with our defense in the second half,” said PSU head coach Gene Iba. “They [the Miners] were pretty darn good tonight.”
A pair of Magana 3-pointers cut the lead to just one with :29.7 left in the game.
Just as the Miners took their ensuing inbound, Casey Noll committed an offensive foul — his fifth — and gave the Gorillas one last shot with :27.5 left.
A long 3-pointer from Henry Rogers banked off the left side of the iron and A.J. Mandani came down with the rebound and was fouled by Jordan Embers.
Mandani missed both, but the rebound on the second miss was pulled down by Adam Knollmeyer.
Knollmeyer, hit just one of his two free-throws.
On the subsequent possession, Magana drove the length of the court and found himself open at the top of the key.
Magana unloaded on a long-range 3 that bounced around the iron and fell through, giving the Gorillas a 63-62 lead with just :05 left.
As the Miners drove the length of the court, Marquis Jones had his pocked picked by Andy Smith to close out the game.
“It’s real tough to lose that way,” Glash said. “I have several guys in tears after that.”
A layup from Jones capped an 8-0 run for the Miners over a two-minute span.
In the first half, Pitt State was held without a field goal for almost five minutes, but were kept in the game on 5 of 9 free-throw shooting, but the Miners were 8 of 10 over the first 18 minutes of the half.
The Gorillas finally got off their field-goal drought when JaVon McGee tipped in a shot and Owens followed up with a dunk off a steal to cut the Miners’ lead to 34-31.
Pitt State did shoot 48 percent from the field and out-rebounded the Miners 20-15 in the first half. But, the Miners did shoot 60 percent from 3-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line in the first half.
For the game, the Gorillas shot 43 percent from the field while the Miners shot 32 percent. Magana also led all with eight rebounds and six assists on the night.
The Gorillas return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they travel to Wichita to take on Newman University.
Matthew Clark can be reached at matthew.clark@morningsun.net or at 620-231-2600, Ext. 140. Follow Morning Sun sports at twitter.com/mssports
Pittsburg State 63, Missouri S&T 62
MISSOURI S&T (62) — Byron Bundy 5-13 3-3 16, Marquis Jones 3-6 4-4-12, Mike Malat 2-5 4-4 10, A.J. Mandani 4-13 1-4 0, Bryce Foster 1-4 4-4 7, Casey Noll 1-6 2-5 4, Hank Harris 0-2 3-4 3, Adam Knollmeyer 0-1 1-3 1. Totals: 16-50 22-31 62.
PITTSBURG STATE (63) — Spencer Magana 8-15 1-3 21, Rodney Grace 4-11 3-6 11, Quincy Owens 4-7 3-4 11, Josh Walker 3-5 0-4 6, C.J. Masters 1-4 2-4 4, Andy Smith 1-6 1-2 3, JaVon McGee 1-1 1-2 3, Jordan Embers 1-2 0-1 2, Zach Quick 0-1 2-2 2, Mo Gunn 0-1 0-0 0, Henry Rogers 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 23-54 13-28 63.
Halftime — S&T 34, PSU 31. 3-point goals — S&T 8-21 (Bundy 3-8, Malat 2-4, Jones 2-4, Foster 1-1, Mandani 0-3, Noll 0-1), PSU 4-15 (Magana 4-9, Smith 0-3, Embers 0-1, Rogers 0-1, Masters 0-1). Rebounds — S&T 33 (Mandani 6), PSU 42 (Magana 8). Assists — S&T 9 (Mandani, Harris 3), PSU 17 (Magana 6). Steals — S&T 6, PSU 3. Turnovers — S&T 18, PSU 17. Personal fouls — S&T 26, PSU 23. Fouled out — PSU, Grace, Masters. S&T, Noll. Technical fouls — none. A — 393.
