Last-second shot beats Quakers

Wilmington falls at Mount Union

|Box Score|

January 14, 2006

Brett Carpenter

ALLIANCE — Eric Fender's three-point shot with six seconds to play lifted Mount Union to a 58-56 Ohio Athletic Conference win over Wilmington College Saturday. The loss drops the Quakers to 5-3 in the OAC, 12-3 overall. Mount Union moves to 4-4 in the conference, 5-10 overall.

"It was a tough shot; we defended it pretty well," WC head coach Scott Reule said of Fender's game-winner. "Then we had 2.8 seconds to go the length of the floor and get a shot, which is difficult to get done."

Wilmington sputtered early against Mount Union's zone, shooting just 24 percent from the field in the first half. At the intermission, the Raiders led, 24-18.

"They played a lot of zone and we struggled some against it. But we made some adjustments at halftime and the kids really responded in the second half," Reule said.

The Quakers got on track from long distance early in the second half. Josh Rohrbacher (Columbus/Beechcroft) hit a pair of bombs and Nick Berter (Cincinnati/Reading) and Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East) added treys that were followed by a Travante Leftenant (Columbus/Africentric) three-point play that give WC a 39-34 lead with 14:00 to play. The Raiders got two three-pointers from Luke Conley to take a 47-45 lead at 9:20.

The Quakers looked inside to Eric Stirling (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle Academy), who scored four of his team-high 13 points to push WC ahead, 52-49. Rohrbacher hit two free throws to give Wilmington a 54-49 lead with 3:26 to play. A two-minute scoreless stretch, though, left Wilmington down, 55-54, when Fender scored at 1:49.

Zach Broermann (Brookville, Ind./Franklin County) drove for a basket and a 56-55 Wilmington lead at 1:11. After a Fender turnover and a missed three-pointer by Wilmington, the Raiders gave the ball to Fender, who launched from the top of the key and nailed his fourth trey of the game. Wilmington turned the ball over in an attempt to travel 94 feet in less than three seconds.

"That was a tough way to lose," Reule said. "Our kids played a really good second half. We shot 57 percent from the field in the second half and did a nice job with the adjustments we made. It was a balanced effort, a team effort. Give credit to Mount Union. They are becoming a very good team. They are young and struggled some early in the season, but they are building themselves into a solid team. They're 5-10, but they're 4-4 in the OAC, and we all know how tough this conference is."

Rohrbacher scored eight points for Wilmington, Berter and Leftenant scored seven each while Brett Carpenter (Marshalville/Smithville) and Justin Gaines (Cincinnati/Colerain) scored five apiece. Fender led all scorers with 22 points.

Mount Union out-rebounded Wilmington, 38-26. Stirling and Rohrbacher led the Quakers in rebounding with seven and four, respectively. The Quakers forced 20 turnovers while turning it over 13 times.

Wilmington will host Capital 7:30 p.m. Wednesday in OAC action. The Crusaders lost to Otterbein, 74-72, Saturday.