MASCOUTAH — On a night when the shots failed to drop and the turnovers came in bunches, the Althoff Crusaders made a play at the end Tuesday against the Mascoutah Indians.
Senior Ryan Marcum hit a layup with 18 seconds remaining in overtime as the Crusaders rallied for a 41-38 nonconference win.
The Indians (2-7) took a 38-35 lead with 58 seconds remaining on a 3-point shot by junior Jaylen Nelson. But two free throws by the Crusaders' Kevin Renner cut the lead to a point with under 45 seconds left.
Following a missed free throw by Alex Oltmann, the Crusaders got the ball back and called timeout.
Taking the inbounds pass, Marcum got the ball and drove the lane, banking the ball off the glass to give Althoff a 39-38 lead.
"The play was not necessarily designed to go to Ryan, but I thought he did a nice job of improvising and taking the ball to the basket,'' Althoff coach Greg Leib said. "How did we win this game? We made some plays down the stretch when we needed to and we had some key defensive stops.''
Following a series of three timeouts, the Indians had a chance to take the lead but Oltmann's 15-foot jumper with three seconds left was off the mark
Freshman Brendon Gooch then iced the win with 2 seconds left when he made two free throws. Althoff finished the game having made just 8-of-22 shots from the foul line.
"And we're a good shooting team,'' Leib said. "I'm just very proud of the way we hung in there tonight when things weren't going our way. We found a way to grind this one out.''
Mascoutah, getting strong play from Sean Manley, Tim Parks and Farris Limuel, led 15-10 at halftime and by as many as seven points midway through the third quarter
Althoff, which had 12 turnovers compared to just 10 points in the first half, rallied late in the third quarter behind a 3 from Grant Strieker and jumpers by Renner and Marcum to trail 24-23 heading into the final quarter.
A 3 by Jaylen Nelson gave Mascoutah a four-point lead midway through the final period. But Gooch hit a 3-pointer and Erik Furmanek scored all six of his points to rally the Crusaders.
Althoff had a chance to win at the end of regulation, but Renner's shot bounced off the rim.
A 3 from Tim Parks gave Mascoutah the lead to start overtime but Althoff made enough plays down the stretch for the win.
