The Park University men's basketball program was in for a wild ride in Atchison, Kan. on Wednesday night, hitting multiple buzzer beater shots in two overtime periods for the win over Benedictine, 90-88.   

The Pirates have won two games in a row and are 3-4 in their last four contests. Overall Park improves to 14-10 on the season with a 13-7 conference record and are tied in the No. 4 spot with MidAmerica Nazarene University. Benedictine drops a heartbreaker at home and are now 6-12 in conference play with a 7-15 record on the season.

This game was tied at the end of halftime, regulation, and the first overtime period, as a hint to how close this game was. Jasigha Barnes was feeling it from deep early, starting off the game with a three-pointer at the 17:13 mark. A 10-2 run by the Ravens did not bode well in the early going and Benedictine led at the 12:48 mark, 14-6. Tyler Burrows and Abubakar Kromah made three free-throws, but at the 10 minute mark, Park was under 10 points and trailed by eight. Jaden Robinson broke the silence with a two-point basket, followed by Shawndale Ross who took a steal and made the transition layup to make it 21-13 with 7:21 to go. This would just be the start of a 14-2 run in a matter of three minutes to tie the game 23-23. Gagi Gvalia came alive with three shots from beyond the arc, while Burrows and Barnes both added two-point baskets for the tie. Again Burrows came up big and with 1:30 left to play in the half, he sank a three to tie the game 30-30 at the break.

Barnes came out firing in the second half with two made three-pointers in a row, both assisted by Tristan McRoberts, to give Park a 36-35 lead. As the half continued to unfold, the Ravens had some success from behind the line and back-to-back threes gave them back the lead by 5 with 13:39 to go, 48-43. An and-one by Gvalia cut into the lead, but a 6-0 run by the Ravens pushed the lead up to 54-46 at the 11:09 mark. Burrows cashed in on an and-one himself and after another Burrows bucket and a Kromah free-throw, Park was within a possession again under 10 minutes. Robinson, Burrows, and Kormah combined for a 7-0 run to give Park its first lead since the 14:45 mark, 61-58. Under five minutes both teams had some missed opportunities at the free-throw line, as Park shot just 2-of-10 from the line, while the Ravens were 0-2. With it tied at the 4:09 mark, the Ravens had a big three-point basket for the 65-62 lead. There was a quick response by Kromah with a two-point bucket, but another trey by the Ravens pushed the lead to 68-64 and then two more two-point field goals came in for the Ravens to make it 72-65 with 1:44 left. Robinson got points in the paint to make it a five-point game. The Ravens missed one free-throw, allowing Robinson to come back the other way with his own put-back with 10 seconds left. Burrows was at the line with two shots and after missing the first one, everyone was going to go all out for the offensive rebound to give their team a chance. On the second miss, Kromah had incredible effort to secure the offensive rebound with time ticking away. His first pass to Gvalia was deep three and good defense by the Ravens even contested the shot, but Gvalia drained it with two seconds left to tie the game at 72-72.

In overtime, the Ravens struck first and after a 8-2 start to the period, the Pirates were down six points with 2:22 to play. Both sides made a free-throw to keep it at a six-point deficit and off of a Kromah Steal, Barnes nailed a three with 35 seconds to go to come within three. Benedictine remained ahead by a possession and free-throws were still a sore spot for both sides, as Barnes made the front-end of his free-throws to make it 83-81 with seven seconds remaining. Benedictine payed the Pirates back a favor by only making one of their free-throws the next play. With five seconds left and the game on the line, Burrows hustled up the court and was able to dump it off to Barnes and set a pick for an open shot near half court for Barnes. Barnes was five-of-11 from deep with no other shot more important to tie, and the senior from Long Island, N.Y. delivered for the second buzzer beater in a row to force a second overtime.

Only four points were scored by both sides in the overtime period, leading up to the game-winner by the Pirates. Park with under five seconds to work with, had great play design on the in-bound, and Kromah found an open Robinson, who had to catch and shoot while in mid-air for the win, 90-88. To add to the suspense, the Ravens with 1.2 seconds remaining had an ESPN Top 10 type shot that banked off the glass and in, but after review the shot was deemed no good, and the Pirates survived the scare.

 Both teams were 33-of-67 from the field, an identical 49.3-percent, and were very close in three-pointers as well, 10-of-20 for Park and 11-of-26 for the Ravens.
Each team was at 50-percent or under from the line and Park left 19 points on the board in missed free-throws and the Ravens were not much better with nine missed free-throws.
Turnovers and points off turnovers were about even, as was points in the paint, but the Pirates had 35 points off the bench, which doubled the Ravens' 17.

Barnes had 28 points, a new career-high, on 11-of-22 from the field and added six assists to his numbers.

Robinson was at a double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds, while Kromah was in near double-double numbers at 12 rebounds and nine points. Kromah was the second in assists with five.

Huge production came in from Burrows with a career-high of 19 points and Gvalia had three huge threes to rack up 14 points.

The Pirates look forward to celebrating Senior Day on Saturday, February 8 against Graceland University at 4pm. The senior ceremony to honor our Pirates will be five minutes before tip-off.  WATCH
Box Score