Union’s basketball teams split two hard-fought regular season finales Thursday night in the Fred Delay gym against rival Christian Brothers.
The men fell by a score of 76 to 73, resulting in yet another close loss near the end of the season. It was an emotionally charged game with Coach David Niven telling his team down the stretch, “I believe in you.”
Freshman guard Ty Parks had an especially strong performance with 20 points on 8-11 shooting along with 12 rebounds. Terrandus Smith also had a double-double.
With just under a minute remaining with the score deadlocked at 69, Parks hit a go ahead free throw that sent the home crowd into a frenzy. Foul trouble allowed Christian Brothers to retake control however, and the Buccaneers grabbed a 74-70 lead. Payton Stovall hit a miraculous three to cut the lead to a single point, but left a mere four tenths of a second on the clock before CBU made two more free throws. A heave down court on the following inbound was swatted away as time expired.
The Buccaneers were led by a 32 point performance from senior leader Adam Dieball who capped off yet another strong regular season for Christian Brothers.
Now the Bulldogs must look ahead to the conference tournament. Niven told EPlusTV6 that he didn’t care if his team is considered an underdog, stressing that he is not concerned with who the odds favor.
The women’s team fell behind early before grabbing control on their way to a 94 to 86 win. The Lady Bulldogs outscored the Lady Buccaneers 44 to 20 in the paint while also never relinquishing control of the pace of the game, outscoring CBU in fast break points as well.
Forward Morgan Martin had a career high 29 points in her final home game with the Lady Bulldogs.
Coach Mark Campbell praised Martin’s performance after the game, but also felt the team is not quite playing at the level they need to be as they set their eyes on the opportunities of March.