Despite playing its third game in three days, New Mission did not appear to be mentally fatigued.
Locked in a 61-61 tie in overtime with Cathedral, the Titans inbounded the ball from the sideline with eight seconds to go. Point guard Charlie Mitchell corralled the inbounds pass, and swung it to his brother Charles Mitchell (16 points) for a corner three. Charles Mitchell was fouled on the arm as he went up, sending him to the free throw line for three shots.
He hit two of three and, at the other end, Cathedral’s last second half court heave fell short as the Titans survived a second half charge by the Panthers and came away with a 63-61 victory on Sunday night at UMass Boston.
New Mission coach Cory McCarthy said playing three games in three days is not something that should impact his teams' play.
“There are no excuses for us because we do not get tired,” said McCarthy. “I thought at times we were mentally fragile, which was concerning. I think towards the end there though we wore them down.”
The matchup featured two teams who thrive on full court pressure, quickness, and a run-and-gun style attitude to try and grind out wins over their opponents.
Early on it appeared as though the Titans were going to cruise to victory as six points from Charles Mitchell allowed New Mission to build a 13-1 lead midway through the first quarter.
Cathedral, however, gradually got themselves back into the contest before halftime. The Panthers consistent willingness to attack the basket got the Titans into foul trouble, and by the beginning of the second quarter, Cathedral was into the double bonus.
Eight made free throws over the final five minutes of the first half got Cathedral within seven, and with time winding down Trevor Lynch (10 points) was able to get a put back to go down to cut the Titans lead to 27-22 at the break.
The Titans were able to push their lead back up to 8 points, 33-25, early in the third quarter on a Charles Mitchell corner three, but from that point forward Cathedral kept the pressure on.
The combination of Chauncey Cheeks (16 points) and Lynch gave the Panthers a two-pronged attack offensively while defensively Cathedral switched up between a 2-3 zone and man-to-man to keep New Mission at bay.
Late in the third quarter and New Mission holding on to a 40-36 lead, Lynch knocked down a corner three in transition to pull the Panthers within one heading into the final frame.
“At times Chauncey Cheeks made our guards look like they were barely five feet tall,” said McCarthy. “They are a very good team with the way they play. They like to go up and down.”
Cathedral was finally able to take their first lead of the game with five minutes to play in the ball game as Khalil Blair’s free throw put the Panthers up, 43-42.
The two teams went back and forth into the final minute, when with the game tied at 51, Blair went coast to coast in transition to give Cathedral a two point advantage.
New Mission, however, refused to go down.
Titan’s big man Kevin Nunez received the ball in the high post with 38 seconds to go and was fouled. At the stripe, Nunez hit one of two to get New Mission back within one, 53-52.
On the ensuing inbounds play, New Missions’ vaunted 2-1-2 pressure forced a Panthers turnover giving the Titans an opportunity to win the game at the buzzer.
Once again the ball ended up in the hands of Nunez who this time missed a mid range jumper, grabbed his own miss and went back up to draw contact.
Nunez drilled the first free throw to tie the game at 53, but front rimmed the second one to send the game into overtime.
“This is good test for us since its three games in a row with this style,” said McCarthy. “We have to send five to the glass on both ends because we’re just not good enough to not try and go grab second chance opportunities.”
Blog:
Media:
