Eugene, Ore. – The Titans had a double-digit lead for most of the second half before a full-court press from Mt. Hood swung the momentum and forced overtime. In overtime the Titans converted nine free throws to pull out a four-point victory at Titan Coliseum, 96-92.
How it happened
First half: The Titans got off to a slow start, falling behind 7-0 in the first 2:06. The Titans would come back to tie the game at 12 at the 14:40 mark after Rodney Hounshell and Jake Willemsen made threes. Another Willemsen three at the 13:39 mark gave the Titans their first lead, 15-13. Mt. Hood tied the game at 17 but Rodney Hounshell made another three to reclaim the lead for the Titans, 20-17, at the 12:08 mark. A third Hounshell three of the half gave the Titans their largest lead of six points, 23-16, at the 10:55 mark.
A 58 second, 5-0 run from Mt. Hood made it a one-point lead for the Titans, 23-22, with 9:57 left in the half. A 5-2 response run by the Titans regained a multi-possession lead, 28-24, thanks to a Ty Horner layup and a fourth Rodney Hounshell three. Back-two-back threes from Mt. Hood tied the game at 30 at the 7:16 mark. A third three in a 55 second period gave the Saints their first lead since early in the half, 33-32.
Ty Horner went on a personal 7-0 run that gave the Titans a 39-33 lead with 4:50 remaining. Rodney Hounshell extended the run to 13-4 with his fifth and sixth threes of the game. Dominic McGarvey made a jump shot with 18 second remaining to give the Titans their largest lead of eight points, 50-42, at half.
The Titans offense was very efficient with 14 assists on 19 made field goals, only five turnovers, seven fouls, nine made threes and a 57.6 percent shooting mark. Rodney Hounshell had 20 points with six made threes and a 7-9 mark from the field. Isaac Lange did not score but he had six assists and two rebounds. All 50 points came from the starters with Dominic McGarvey being the third Titan in double figures with 10 points and four rebounds.
Second half: Jake Willemsen continued the Titans three-point barrage with a three only 34 seconds into the second half and with it the Titans first double-digit lead, 53-42. At the 16:40 mark, the Titans started an 11-0 run that lasted to the 13:28 mark and extended their lead to the largest of the game at 19 points, 66-47.
Up 17, 66-49, with 10:36 remaining, the Titans started to feel the pressure of the desperate Saints full court press. Over the next 9:32 the Titans committed 10 turnovers and saw Mt. Hood go on a 31-14 run to tie the game at 80 with 1:04 remaining.
Ty Horner converted on an up-and-under in the post that gave the Titans an 82-80 lead with 35 seconds left. After a Titan timeout, the Saints got a lane to the basket and made the tying layup with 22 seconds left. After a 30-second Titans timeout with 18 second left, the Titans got a three-point attempt for Tashon Brown, but it missed and Mt. Hood got a final full court shot that was off the top of the back-board at sent the game to overtime.
The Titans shooting returned a normal percentage of 44.4, but they maintained their efficiency from three at 46.2 percent with six makes. The two areas that forced overtime for the Titans: turnovers and fouls. The Titans had 14 turnovers and nine fouls which led to 12 free throw attempts for Mt. Hood, nine more than the Titans.
Jake Willemsen was the only Titan in double figures with 11 points on 4-4 shooting from the field and 3-3 from three. Isaac Lange played only nine minutes due to injury.
Overtime: In OT the Titans got off to the fast start with a dunk from Dominic McGarvey and a three from Rodney Hounshell to give them an 87-82 lead in the first 50 seconds. Hounshell then made two free throws at the 3:20 mark to re-gain a two-possession lead, 89-84.
Mt. Hood got as close as two twice, 92-90 and 94-92, with 1:03 and six seconds remaining, but Tashon Brown closed out the game after converting both of his free throws with two second left to make it a four-point game and clinched the win, 96-92.
The Titans got six fewer shot attempts because they had the lead and forced fouls from Mt. Hood and took advantage, converting 9-12 free throws.
What stood out:
96 points: The Titans are 9-1 when score 90 plus points … 24 assists: 4-1 with 20 plus assists … 51.6 percent shooting: 9-2 when making 50 percent or more of their shots … 16 made threes: ties a season-high in conference play (Feb. 8 versus Clackamas); season-high is 21 versus Multnomah on Dec. 8; 17th game with double-digit made threes; 10-7 with double-digit made threes.
Who stood out:
Rodney Hounshell: 30 points, four rebounds, six assists, four steals and one block; double figure scoring in 22 of 23 games; a made three in last 21 games … Dominic McGarvey: 20 points, career-high 12 rebounds and two steals while making 7-8 shots, 2-2 threes and 4-6 free throws; first career double-double … Ty Horner: 20 points, nine rebounds, four assists, three steals and two blocks; fourth 20-point game; the Titans are 4-0 when he has four plus assists; 6-3 with two plus blocks … Jake Willemsen: 19 points, six rebounds and two assists on a perfect 6-6 shooting from the field, 5-5 from three and 2-2 from the line; the Titans are 8-3 when he scores in double figures; 5-2 when making five or more threes.
What it means: The Titans who were eliminated from the playoffs on Wednesday by Chemeketa and after this win they have moved into a tie for seventh with their next opponent, Linn-Benton. If the Titans win out and both Southwestern Oregon and Mt. Hood loose at least one more game, the Titans will finish fifth with total wins as the tie breaker since the Titans split both season matchups with those teams.
What's next: The Titans (13-12, 4-10) travel to Albany to face seventh place Linn-Benton (10-17, 4-10) on Wednesday at 7:30 p.m.