Quakers drop heart-breaker
in OAC semifinals

Quakers take No. 7 B-W to last second

|Box Score|

February 24, 2006

BEREA — Tori Davis' free throw with one second to play lifted seventh-ranked Baldwin-Wallace to a 64-63 win over Wilmington College in an Ohio Athletic Conference semifinal Friday on the Yellow Jackets' floor. The win sends top-seeded Baldwin-Wallace into Saturday's championship game against No. 2 seed Ohio Northern, which defeated No. 3 Muskingum, 80-64, in Friday's other semifinal. The No. 4 seed Quakers are 20-7 and will hope for an at-large bid to the NCAA national tournament.

After winning 64-61 at B-W in the regular season, Wilmington was filled with confidence entering Friday's semifinal. Senior Eric Stirling (Brooklyn, N.Y./LaSalle Academy) scored 12 points and handed out two assists in the first half as Wilmington took the game to the Yellow Jackets early.

Wilmington's bench, which has been as good as any and better than most in the OAC this season, yielded a new pair of heroes. Foul trouble gave freshman Sam Lahmers (Malta/Morgan) and senior Mike Umpleby (Columbus/Centennial) playing time that they quickly took advantage of. Lahmers hit two free throws and a jumper and Umpleby connected on consecutive three-pointers as the Quakers took a 33-25 lead at the half.

"Sam and Mike stepped up when we needed them," WC head coach Scott Reule said. "We've talked about our bench play all year and the depth that we have. Tonight, it was Sam and Mike's chance to shine. They were both exceptional. It's just a total team effort. Every night, somebody different is going to step up and make plays."

Wilmington extended its lead to 37-25 when Brett Carpenter (Marshalville/Smithville) drilled a three in the opening minute of the second half. Baldwin-Wallace's inside/outside combination of Davis and Keith Aufmuth kept the Yellow Jackets within shouting distance, cutting the deficit to 40-33 at 16:23. On the Quakers' next possession, Nick Berter responded with a three that moved Wilmington up 10, 43-33.

Over the next 10 minutes, Wilmington hit a patch of ice and Baldwin-Wallace heated up. The Yellow Jackets outscored the Quakers 24-5 to take a 57-48 lead on Davis' lay-in at 5:57.

"We came out at the beginning of the half and expanded the lead. I thought that was the little spurt we needed to set the tone for the second half," Reule said. "But we went through a span where we were not getting stops defensively and they were scoring. We were getting some pretty good looks at the basket, but we just weren't making them."

Wilmington's trademark resilience then surfaced. Fred Harrison (Cleveland/East) scored to ignite a 10-0 run capped by a Lahmers' jumper that gave the Quakers a 58-57 lead with 2:09 to play.

"There was no quit in our kids," Reule said. "They were not going to give up. We fought back. Really, the way we picked it up was by doing a much better job defensively. That led to easier baskets for us. That comeback really said a lot about our kids."

Aufmuth and Stirling scored four each as the lead switched hands four times, with WC holding a 62-61 lead on Stirling's bucket in the paint with 37 seconds to play. Davis twisted free to give Baldwin-Wallace a 63-62 advantage with 16 seconds remaining. At the other end, Lahmers was fouled and hit one of two free throws to knot the score with three seconds on the clock.

Baldwin-Wallace then turned desperation into jubilation as Davis snared Chad Clark's length-of-the-court pass and was fouled. The junior preseason All-American hit one of two free throws to seal the heart-stopping win for B-W and heart-breaking loss for WC.

Stirling led Wilmington with 22 points and five rebounds. Lahmers scored nine points, Carpenter added seven, and Umpleby and Harrison scored six each. Davis led B-W with 21 points and Aufmuth scored 20.

Reule said two regular-season losses to Muskingum and defeats at Capital and Mount Union will likely cost the Quakers an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament. Not making the tournament, he asserted, will not lessen the accomplishments of his team and its senior leaders, Stirling, Carpenter, Umpleby and Josh Rohrbacher (Columbus/Beechcroft).

"It's amazing to me what steps we've taken this year to become a basketball program," Reule said. "And it all comes down to our four seniors and the mindset they had on Day One. They demanded nothing but the best and they committed to achieving excellence their senior year. They helped change Wilmington basketball."