Whiting, Ind. – For the second game in a row, Judson University (14-6/7-2) fell in heart breaker as Purdue-Calumet (5-19/3-5) take the win in overtime, 94-90. Senior Joe Gonnam put his name into the Judson record book as he scored his 1,000th career point. JU was down 22 points at half and came back to send the game to overtime.
Scoring 26 points for Judson was Chris Oates as he led five players in double figures. Dewayne Robinson had 18 points as Justen Boyd garnered 17 while Joe Gonnam finished with 14 and Ilija Bojanic 13. Justin Latimore had 21 points for PC.
After being down 22 points at the half, JU outscored PC, 55-33, in the second half to tie the game at 82. In overtime, JU took a two-point lead, 86-84, with 2:11 remaining but was outscored, 10-4, in the final two minutes.
In overtime, PC took the initial lead, 84-82, but Oates tied the game with 26th point of the night. Boyd made two free throws with 2:11 left in the period to put Judson up by two, 86-84. Over the next 1:38, PC went on a 6-0 for a four-point advantage, 90-86.
With 29 seconds left, Boyd made one-of-two free throws to cut PC’s lead to three, 90-87. PC’s Latimore was fouled after the second missed free throw and went down to make it 91-87. JU grabbed the missed shot and went down and then missed a three-point shot as PC took the defensive rebound with 20 seconds remaining.
Latimore was fouled, again, after the rebound and made one-of-two free throws to push the PC lead to five, 92-87. It took nine seconds for JU to nail a three-pointer by Robinson to come within two, 92-90, with 11 seconds on the clock.
Judson fouled right away and Latimore, for the third time in OT, made one-of-two from the line as JU grabbed the defensive rebound. The Eagles drove down the floor to try and tie the game at 93 but was called for an offensive foul and turned the gall over with two seconds remaing. PC’s Josuah Collins made one-of-two free throws to make it 94-90. Time ran off the clock as Judson took a last shot.
Down 25 points, 57-32, with 16 minutes left in the game, JU slowly climbed back into the game. JU went on a 26-11 run over 10 minutes to cut the lead to 10, 68-58. With 5:20 remaining, Oates brought PC’s lead to single digits on a free throw to make it 68-59. At the 2:54 mark, Robinson hit a jumper as JU was within four points, 71-67.
PC went back up by seven three different times in the last two minutes and had a seven-point lead, 80-73, with 43 seconds left in the game. A three-pointer with 32 seconds left by Oates made it a four-point lead by PC and then a Boyd lay up with 24 seconds remaining put Judson behind by just two-points, 80-78.
PC then made two free throws for a four-point lead, 82-78, as 23 ticks were left. Boyd took the ball down the court and made it 82-80 with 17 seconds on the clock and then JU fouled to get the ball back. PC missed both of their free throws with 19 seconds left and then Gonnam tied the game with just seven seconds left in regulation. PC did not convert as time ran out and the game went to overtime.
The first half was not a great one for Judson as they only shot 33% and only made two free throws. PC took control of the first half by shooting 69% from the floor and 63% from the three-point line. PC started the game on a 10-0 run and has as large as a 24-point lead.
Judson missed 11 free throws in the game shooting 68% (24-of-35). They finished the game shooting 44% and made 32% from three-point land. PC made 62% of their shots while making 50% from beyond the arc.
Judson will host CCAC rival Trinity International at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, February 13th, in the Lindner Fitness Center.
