CHICAGO, Ill. – it came down to a shot at the buzzer, but it missed by inches. The Goshen men's basketball team lost on Tuesday night in downtown Chicago to Roosevelt 57-55.
Roosevelt seemed to be primarily in control throughout the first half, building up an eight-point lead at 28-20 and forcing Goshen to call a timeout with under four minutes to go in the first half. That point shifted the pendulum of favor back toward Goshen, as the Maple Leafs erupted for a 23-6 run at the end of the first half and beginning of the second. Now it was Goshen with a nine-point lead with 13:52 to go. The Lakers responded and had the game tied with under seven minutes remaining.
The teams went back and forth, and
Greg Johnson knocked down two huge free throws with 60 seconds on the clock to cut Roosevelt's lead to one. Goshen missed a layup with 22 seconds left, and Roosevelt made one of two free throws after a Goshen foul. With a chance to take the lead,
Elias Ramirez missed a contested three with three seconds to go, but the ball went out on the Lakers and Goshen had one last chance.
Austin Branagan came into the game and put up a jump shot that hit the backboard and then the front rim and out as the time expired. Roosevelt escaped with a 57-55 win.
"As a team we weren't prepared for how physical this game was," head coach
Jon Tropf remarked. "I give credit to our guys for being able to adapt over the course of the game."
Ryan Mansbarger had 18 points with six rebounds and four assists.
Greg Johnson scored 14 points, mainly due to his impressive 11-12 shooting from the free-throw line.
Elias Ramirez had five points and eight rebounds.
Kedrick Bibby added six points and posted a season-high eight rebounds.
Roosevelt came into the match having won their last three games by a combined 92 points. They are now 2-0 at home this season.
Goshen drops to 2-4 with a conference matchup with Saint Francis (Ind.) coming up this weekend. The home game will be on Saturday, November 20 at 3:00 pm in Gunden Gymnasium. If you come at 1:00 pm, you can watch the women's teams face off as well.
"I believe this group won't lose sight of the bigger picture," Tropf said. "We just have to get back to chopping wood tomorrow."
