Forget NCAA division classifications. Any college basketball fan would be hard-pressed to find a better game this season than the three-overtime thriller between Division II nationally-ranked teams Clark Atlanta and Morehouse Thursday at L.S. Epps Gymnasium.
Morehouse senior guard Tyrius Walker hit a pair of game-winning free throws with 8.3 seconds left in the third overtime to give No. 11 Morehouse a 97-96 victory over No. 16 Clark Atlanta in the Atlanta University Center showdown.
“I have been a part of a lot of these games,” said Morehouse head coach Grady Brewer, in his 18th season at the school. “This one is probably No. 1. There were two monsters out there tonight and we just got fed one more crumb of bread.”
The stage was set more than two hours before tipoff. The line of fans to enter the gym stretched more than a block and a half. Some said they lined up at 4 p.m. for the 7:30 tip. That only foreshadowed the epic showdown of schools located within spitting distance of each other.
Inside the gym, it was standing room only for the reported attendance of 1,700. A DJ was spinning records up in the corner of the bleachers, while the Clark Atlanta pep band was making sure it was impossible for fans to have a conversation with one another. And once the game started, the fans made sure the noise level only increased.
“It was funny. I was telling the guys right before the game started that 38 years ago I was playing in this gym and I hit the free throw, just as Tyrius (Walker) did, in the same exact basket to win the game,” Brewer said. “It’s eerie and strange how similar this game felt.”
Morehouse (21-1, 15-1 in the Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference) jumped out to a 26-9 lead midway through the first half with a barrage of 3-pointers. The game’s intensity picked up at the under-eight timeout when Clark Atlanta’s Shelvick Henry Jr. and Morehouse’s Walker had to be separated from a scuffle that brought the fans and benches to their feet.
The Panthers (20-3, 14-2 SIAC) crawled back into the contest using a combination of 3-pointers and free throws and entered halftime only down 42-35.
Morehouse pushed its lead to 11 in the second half before Clark Atlanta made its final run. Henry hit a contested layup to give the game its first tie with just over three minutes left in regulation. No one could break the 68-all tie sending the game into overtime, much to the excitement of the crowd which was literally inches away from spilling over onto the court. Security guards were spread out across floor making sure no one interfered with the game.
“It was a great game,” second-year Clark Atlanta head coach Darrell Walker said. “This was the place to be tonight. The crowd was into it. The players were fired up. It was just a good atmosphere to compete in.”
The Panthers went ahead by two after senior Anthony Williams hit two free throws with 14 seconds left. Maroon Tigers sophomore Michael Olmert responded on the ensuing possession with a reverse layup to tie the game at 80 and force double overtime.
Olmert converted a three-point play with 34 seconds remaining in the second extra frame to put Morehouse up three. Panthers guard Mark Burton Jr. answered with a 3-pointer to send the game into triple overtime tied at 88.
The final overtime became a free throw shooting contest. With Clark Atlanta leading 96-95, Walker went to the line to shoot two with 9.7 seconds remaining. He missed the first and the second, but tracked down his miss and got fouled while collecting the loose ball. The SIAC leading scorer’s 26th and 27th points gave Morehouse the edge. Burton’s 3-point attempt fell off to the right as time expired and Maroon Tigers rushed the floor to celebrate.
“This was an instant classic,” Walker said. “I got to go home and digest this one with a glass of red wine.”
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