Spring Break
Coaches, players explain Judges' final possession
An inside look at the last play of the game.
by Jeffrey Pickette
Senior writer
Sports | 3/10/09
Posted online at 2:50 AM EST on 3/10/09
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The Judges eventually cut the lead to 65-63 with 27 seconds left. Forward Rich Magee '10 fought for a rebound off a missed free-throw attempt by Diplomats rookie Georgio Milligan. With Magee battling to maintain possession, Brandeis used its final timeout with 24.8 seconds left, setting up one final chance for the team to either send the game into overtime or win the game outright in regulation.
"We all just looked at each other coming out of that huddle, and we knew all we had to do was stop them to win the game," Franklin & Marshall junior guard Clay Scovill told reporters after the game.
Guard Andre Roberson '10 took the inbound pass for Brandeis and slowly dribbled the ball up-court, pausing near the top of the three-point line before making his move inside.
"We were just trying to set that high screen that became successful late in the game for us," head coach Brian Meehan told reporters. "[We wanted to] give [Roberson] the opportunity to turn the corner and get to the rim."
"We felt that [Franklin & Marshall would] probably drop way off of him because he was turning the corner quite a bit and give him the jump shot, or if he turned the corner and they came off trying to stop the penetration, he might be able to hit someone for three on the perimeter," Meehan continued.
Franklin & Marshall head coach Glenn Robinson, who has more wins than any coach in Division III men's basketball history, told reporters that he noticed the Judges' tendency to set screens throughout the course of the game. However, he suggested that his team had done a good job guarding the Judges' screens near the top of the key.
"[Our] people playing the screens hedged and helped, and so when it looked like a man was open, there was always someone stepping out," he told reporters after the game. "As soon as [the Brandeis player] stepped back, [our] man guarding him was there."
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