Saturday, March 03, 2001
Moeller beats Hamilton in OT
By George Schutte
Enquirer contributor
OXFORD — Nick Monserez came up with the defensive play and Matt Sylvester delivered the crushing blow in Moeller's 61-60 overtime victory over Hamilton in a Division I basketball sectional final at Millett Hall Friday night.
With the Crusaders trailing 60-59 and 10 seconds remaining in overtime, Monserez stole the ball at midcourt and drove to the basket, but missed an off-balance shot.
A trailing Sylvester, who would finish with 34 points, grabbed the rebound and scored on a four-foot jump shot with one second remaining, enabling the No.3 seeded Crusaders to avoid the upset.
“I was going to foul, but I decided to take a swipe at the ball,” Monserez said. “I somehow got a piece of the ball and grabbed it.”
The heroics by Monserez and Sylvester climaxed a nip-and-tuck fourth quarter after the Big Blue erased a 36-25 Crusaders lead midway through the third quarter.
Sylvester, a 6-foot-7 senior who will play at Ohio State next season, also came up big with 34 seconds remaining in overtime, nailing a 3-pointer to cut the deficit from four points to one.
“We didn't have to dribble on that play,” Hamilton coach Larry Allen said. “But there were a lot of big plays during the last 10 to 12 minutes, with some going our way and some their way.”
Moeller appeared to have the game under control, leading 51-48 with 38.1 seconds to play in regulation after two free throws by Tyler Tabler.
But Hamilton battled back. Jon Smith scored with 21 seconds to play and Nate Rusbosin followed with two free throws with 16.6 seconds left to give the Big Blue a one-point advantage.
Fouled with 7.6 seconds remaining, Sylvester sank one of two free throws to send the game into overtime.
Moeller's team bus had difficulty getting to Millett Hall due to a huge traffic jam on Route 27. The double-header, which included the earlier Western Hills-Winton Woods game, drew 9,552 people.
“It took us three hours to get here,” Moeller coach Carl Kremer said. “We didn't arrive until there were five minutes left in the Western Hills game. They delayed our game 20 minutes so we could stretch.”
HAMILTON (60) — Andrews 5 4 16, Underwood 1 0 2, Smith 5 4 14, Rusbosin 7 2 18, Couch 1 0 2, Ballinger 3 0 8. Totals: 22 10 60.
MOELLER (61) — Tabler 2 2 8, Byrnes 2 2 6, Monserez 2 0 5, Nagel 2 1 5, Sylvester 12 6 34, McGone 1 1 3. Totals: 21 12 61.
Hamilton ....... 13 12 14 13 8—60
Moeller ....... 10 14 18 10 9—61
3-pointers: M—Tabler 2, Monserez, Sylvester 4. H—Andrews 2, Rusbosin 2, Ballinger 2.
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Moeller beats Hamilton in OT
