More than a few St. Croix hoops fans were stunned Monday night at the Ronald Charles gymnasium as Legacy outlasted the Lakers in triple OT, 76-71.
While the Legacy win might have come as a bit of a surprise, hardcore NBBA fans knew it was bound to happen sooner or later.
After all this scrappy bunch of hard chargers took the defending champion, Guidance, into overtime last Friday before being outplayed in the extra frame. So the Lakers, one of the league’s upper echelon teams, should have been ready for anything.
And ready they were: the Lakers came out looking like they were ready to blow Legacy off the floor. Charles Moorehead scored 10 points in the first half, and the Lakers held an 11-point advantage at the half at 30-19.
The lead would expand to as many 20 early in the third quarter, but at about the midway point Sean Tutein got hot, and the Legacy comeback began. Tutein netted 13 points in the period, and his team trailed by just seven at 51-44 at the end of three quarters.
The Legacy momentum continued in the fourth period as they opened on a 14-1 run that saw them zip by the Lakers to take their first lead of the game at 58-52. The Lakers, however, would close on a 9-3 run to knot the game at 61 and forced the first overtime.
They were still dead even after the first and second overtime, but heading into the third OT with fatigue now becoming a major factor, it was obvious to everyone in the gym that Legacy, with the crowd staunchly behind them cheering for the upset, was visibly the fresher of the teams. Star point guard Bobby Evans led the way for the winners with six points in overtime as they outscored a tired Lakers squad 15-10 to win by a score of 76-71.
Tutein led three Legacy players in double figures with a game-high 24 points. Evans knocked down 20 ,and the energizer bunny defensive guru, Kaif Newton, finished with 10. Although he only scored six points off the bench, Butch Benson and his two clutch three-pointers were also huge for Legacy down the stretch.
Charles Moorehead led the worn-out Lakers with 14 points, while teammates R. Harris, R. Huggins and Robert Duck netted 11, 10 and 10, respectively.
