by Derek ToneyOverlea High's boys' basketball team believes it should be unbeaten. With several seconds remaining Monday evening at Towson, the Falcons were staring at a stunning loss and a .500 record.
Overlea was able to hold on for a 55-54 victory over the Generals in a Baltimore County contest. Senior guard Brian Smith scored 21 points with seven rebounds and three assists to lead the Falcons (7-5), and senior Earl Davis contributed 13. Mark Davis led all scorers with 25 points for Towson (5-5).
The Generals' Marlin Tillman missed on a drive to the basket with about five seconds left, and Towson couldn't get its hands on the ball before time expired. The closing sequence was set up when Overlea threw the inbound pass away with 16.2 seconds remaining.
"Our guys are young in terms of playing with each other," said Overlea coach Dave Iampieri. "We reminded them we still had one timeout left. What they were thinking, I can't begin to tell you."
"We weren't playing defense and turning the ball over wasn't acceptable," said Falcons senior guard Blair Miles. "We worked better on defense and came through with the victory."
The Falcons led 55-48 with under a minute remaining, but missed the front end on a pair of one-and-one free throws, helping the Generals to close within one with 16.7 seconds remaining on a layup by Mark Davis. On the ensuing possession, Earl Davis' inbound pass sailed outbounds behind the Overlea bench.
"We just continously allowed teams to get back in it," said Iampieri. "Our free throw shooting has to get better. We got some shooters on this team, sometimes they like to stray from the offense, but they play hard."
Smith's shooting (16 points) set the tone in the first half as Overlea led by as many as nine points before Towson closed to within 35-31 at intermission. The Generals carried the momentum in the third quarter as a layup by Mark Davis gave the host a 43-38 advantage.
Overlea turned defensive, going on a 16-5 run for a 54-48 lead with 1:51 remaining in regulation. It was 55-48 after Earl Davis converted the front end of an one-and-one, then missed the second leading to a basket by Mark Davis with 38.7 seconds left. Two free throws by Wilkes followed a miss free throw by Smith, bringing Towson to 55-52.
Another free throw miss, this time by Miles, led to Mark Davis' final basket with 16.7 seconds remaining. Towson coach Randy Dase was pleased his young team was able to get in position for a victory.
"Every thing we did at the end turned out perfect, except for the last shot," said Dase, who has only seniors Mark Davis and Derek Jackson as returning varsity performers. "This is one that we could've had."
The Falcons can relate to Dase's words. Overlea has three losses by four points or less, and failed to maintain a double-digit advantage against defending Class 1A state champ New Town.
"We can beat anybody," said Iampieri. "We could be easily 12-0, we're not. We're 7-5 and we have seven wins because the kids do play hard."
Overlea 55, Towson 54
Overlea: Gilyard 6, Kimble 1, Smith 21, Davis 13, Jones 4, Bryant 2, Evans 2, Miles 6. Totals 20 7-13 55.
Towson: Jackson 4, Tillman 5, Gearheart 3, Davis 6, Davis 25, Wilkes 4, Mosca 4. Totals 20 10-18 54.
Halftime: Overlea 35, Towson 31.
Overlea 23 12 9 11-55
Towson 18 13 12 11-54
