Jan. 10, 2001
MOBILE, Ala. - Virgil Stanescu scored 16 points and had 10 rebounds to lead South Alabama over Western Kentucky 74-66 in overtime in Sun Belt Conference action Wednesday night.
The Jaguars roared out of the lockerroom and shot out to a 26-6 lead in the first eight minutes of play. However, the Hilltoppers managed to get into gear and narrowed the gap to 15 (34-19) at the intermission.
Western slowly chipped away at the USA lead and finally pulled even (56-56) on a layup by Derek Robinson with just 65 seconds to play in regulation.
Two free throws by Jag guard Demetrius Williams at 0:09 staked South Alabama to a 61-58 advantage.
Moments later, the Hilltoppers had the ball out of bounds under their own goal with just eight-tenths of a second left to play. The in-bounds pass went to David Boyden in the left corner, who immediately got off the three-pointer that tied the game (61-61) as the horn sounded.
But, the Topper rally rell short as it was all USA in the overtime. The Jags jumped out quickly to a 67-61 advantage and never looked back.
Williams had 10 assists and scored 15 points and Ravonte Dantzler scored 19 points for South Alabama (10-6, 2-2).
Western Kentucky (10-5, 3-1 SBC) was led by Chris Marcus' career-high 27 points. And, his 19 rebounds were just two shy of his career-best (21 -- the most by an NCAA Division I athlete to date this season) and helped the Hilltoppers amass a 47-29 advantage on the boards. He was also credited with three blocked shots.
Boyden hauled down a career-high 12 rebounds (eight of those on the offensive end) and added nine points, including that dramatic trey to send the contest into the OT. And, Filip Videnov had 10 points, three assists, two steals and a block.
South Alabama outscored the Hilltoppers 13-to-5 in extra play, scoring on 9-of-11 free throws.
