Bowling Green State University Athletics
Bowling Green State University
Troy
Samarco Buzzer Beater Lifts Falcons Over Troy, 71-69
December 02, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Dec. 2, 2006
Final Stats | Quotes | Notes
Bowling Green, Ohio - Senior Martin Samarco hit a 19-foot fallaway jumper from the left corner as time expired to give BGSU a 71-69 win over Troy Saturday at Anderson Arena. Samarco's heroics nullified a 14-3 Trojan run which turned a 66-55 Falcon lead with 2:32 to go into a tie game at 69-69 with 4.7 seconds left when Troy's Cedric Jackson drilled a three-pointer to complete the comeback.
"I mean Martin made a heck of a shot and truthfully Martin deserved a shot to go in because he has struggled and missed some free throws at the end of the game and I am just so happy for him because he tried so hard," said BGSU Coach Dan Dakich who is now tied with John Weinert for fourth place on the Falcon men's basketball all-time win list with 146.
Junior Ryne Hamblet, who hit a buzzer beater against South Alabama last week, hit Samarco with a half court, cross court pass that led to his roommates game winning shot. Hamblet finished with a season-high 16 points and nine rebounds. Samarco finished with a game-high 29, the first time in his career that he has scored 20 points or more in three straight games.
"Hamblet made a great play," said Dakich. "You see all the time guys in that situation and bring the ball down the floor and throw it up from half court with three seconds left to go and people are thinking what are you doing, but Hamblet, when he got the basketball I looked to call a time-out but his head was up and he was looking for Martin. He made the play, Martin made the shot."
Troy completed a 12-2 run in the first half to take a 22-17 lead with 6:38 to go in the first half. The Falcons went on a 19-8 run and closed out the half with back-to-back three-pointers by Hamblet, his third of the half with 1:15 to go and by Samarco, with two seconds to play.
The Falcons shuffled the lineup at halftime inserting walk-on guard Brian Guerin who would up playing the whole second half. His steady play and production in attacking the Trojan's zone defense would help BGSU build its first double digit lead at 42-32 with 17:50 left in the game.
Guerin, who played a career-high 28 minutes finished with a career-best five points and tied his career-high with five assists. Sophomore Erik Marschall added 10 points and four rebounds, marking the third straight time he has contributed double-digit scoring.
The Falcons were able to maintain a comfortable lead throughout most of the second half and led 60-49 on a three-pointer by sophomore Dusan Radivojevic with 5:17 to go. Radivojevic would finish with eight points five rebounds and three assists.
Samarco would hit a pair of free throws with 2:32 to go to give BGSU a 66-55 lead. The Trojans would score the next four points, but Samarco one of two free throws to give the Falcons a 67-59 lead with 1:33 left.
After a Hamblet free throw made it 68-61 with 1:15 remaining, the Trojans used a three-pointer by O'Darien Bassett and a steal which resulted in a Bassett layup to cut the lead to 68-66. The Trojans once again stole the ball but Bassett's layup rimmed out and Samarco grabbed the rebound and was fouled. He missed the first of two free throws then canned the second to give BGSU a 69-66 lead. The Trojan's Jackson would take the pass from Bassett who drilled the triple with 4.7 seconds left.
The BGSU inbound pass went to Hamblet who dribbled to half court before finding Samarco for the game winner in the corner.
"We always practice late game situations with two or three minutes left on the clock," said Samarco. "Coach Dakich always wants Hamblet to bring the ball up fast and I just happened to look and he threw me the ball and it went from there."
BGSU improved to 3-2, while Troy is now 4-3. The Falcons will host Arkansas State on Monday at 7 p.m. in a rematch of a November 16 game which saw the Indians defeat the Falcons, 64-54, in Jonesboro.
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